Temple University Athletics
Weber Does It All In Season-Ending Win At St. Bonaventure
5.20.07 | Baseball
May 20, 2007
ST. BONAVENTURE, NY - There wasn't much that junior Ryan Weber didn't do in Temple's season finale on Saturday. Break the single-season hits record with two singles and a double? Check. Drive in the winning runs in the top of the 11th inning with a double to left? Check. Pitch a scoreless bottom of the 11th to record your fourth save of the season? Check. It was certainly a memorable day for the Cypress, TX native, as he helped lead the Owls to a 13-11 victory over St. Bonaventure at Handler Park.
Weber came into the game tied with George Clark, who had 83 hits in 1985. The junior did not allow for any drama as he lined a single to right to break the record in his first at-bat. Clark's record had stood for 22 years and only Joe Kerrigan, Jr. (79 hits in 1999) and Tom Whalen (76 hits in 1995) broke the 70-hit plateau since 1985.
Lost in the late season record push has been the performance of junior Stan Orzechowski. With two hits today, Orzechowski finished the season with 82 base-knocks, good for third on the single-season list. He also edged Weber to break the single-season at-bats record with 235 and tied the single-season doubles mark with 20, tying Mike Palys (1989).
Trailing 10-6 after six innings, the Owls put up a five-spot in the seventh to take its first lead since the opening frame. Sophomore Carmen Del Mastro led off with a triple and scored on freshman Matt Heltz's single. After Orzechowski singled and Heltz scored when Weber reached on an error, sophomore Sean Barksdale launched his seventh home run of the season to give Temple the lead.
Barksdale, who ended the day with four hits, finished the season with 59 RBI, good for fourth on the all-time list and the most since Clark's record-setting 66 in 1985. Barksdale batted a team-high .432 with runners in scoring position this season.
St. Bonaventure plated a run in the bottom half of the frame off junior Eric Fritz to tie the score, but it would be the only run to cross the plate off the right-hander in four innings. He earned the win to improve to 2-1 and struck out four and allowed just two hits, both in the seventh inning.
Temple was unable to tie the score in the ninth, despite having Barksdale on third with two outs. After going down in order in the tenth, the Owls took the lead for good in the 11th. Heltz led off with a single, his third of the game, and moved to third on Orzechowski's double. Weber then doubled down the leftfield line to make it 13-11. TU would eventually load the bases but could not plate any more insurance.
Weber then moved to the pitcher's mound from shortstop for the first time in three weeks looking to nail down the save. The first batter of the inning singled, but was soon eliminated on a 6-4-3 double play. After a hit batsman, Weber induced a ground-out to end the game and the season. It was his fourth save of the season, good for a tie for fourth on the single-season list and the most since Pete Moore's record-setting eight in 1999.
Senior Dan Brady had a strong final game in the Cherry and White, going 3-for-5 with a two-run homerun. It was his team-high ninth of the season and also set a career-high for the Havertown, PA native.
The Owls banged out a season-high 21 hits against seven SBU pitchers. Five Owls had at least three hits, led by Barksdale's four. Weber, Brady, Heltz and junior Mike Kelch all had three.
Temple (18-37, 9-18 A-10), which snapped a ten-game losing streak with the win, finished the season with the most victories since the 2004 team won 23. The nine conference victories were the most since the 2004 team won 10.
Offensively, the team set new program records for at-bats (2,043), hits (618), singles (454) and doubles (117).
St. Bonaventure (25-25, 14-12 A-10) wrapped up the sixth seed in the conference tournament, set to begin on Wednesday at Fifth Third Field in Dayton, OH.
