Temple University Athletics
Baseball Opens 2008 Season On Friday At Bethune-Cookman
2.20.08 | Baseball
Feb. 20, 2008
PHILADELPHIA - The Temple baseball team will escape the winter weather for three days when it opens the 2008 season at Bethune-Cookman in a three-game series beginning on Friday in Daytona Beach, FL. Picked to finish sixth in the Atlantic 10 by Baseball America, the Owls return 19 letterwinners, including 13 upperclassmen. Bethune-Cookman is the defending MEAC Champions and advanced to the 2007 NCAA Tournament after winning 33 games.
"We're looking forward to taking on a quality opponent in Bethune on Friday," third-year head coach Rob Valli said. "The team has been working extremely hard for the past month and we're anxious to get out on the diamond."
Valli will send a starting rotation of senior Tom Dolan, junior Matt Mongiardini and senior Mike Mongiardini to the hill. Dolan returns as the staff ace after posting a 6-5 record and 3.96 ERA as a junior. The southpaw will take the hill on Friday night at 6 PM against Bethune junior Hiram Burgos (6-7, 3.40).
On Saturday at 1 PM, Matt Mongiardini gets the ball for the Cherry and White. He won three games as a sophomore last season and impressed the coaching staff with a strong fall. He'll oppose the Wildcats' Joseph Gautier (5-2, 3.26).
Mike Mongiardini, a redshirt senior who transferred from Yale, will make his Temple debut on Sunday at 1 PM. The southpaw was a three-year starter for the Bulldogs and had a 3.82 ERA as a junior in 2006. BCU will counter with Eric Thomas, a junior college transfer from Daytona Beach CC.
Senior Arshwin Asjes will likely see time out of the bullpen after starting the past two seasons.
The Temple offense will be led by senior CF Stan Orzechowski and junior RF Sean Barksdale. Orzechowski batted .349 with 20 doubles, six home runs and 32 RBI as a junior to earn all-Big 5 honors. Barksdale, the Atlantic 10's third-best draft prospect according to Baseball America, batted .359 with seven homers and 59 RBI as a sophomore. He was a first team All-Atlantic 10 selection and Philadelphia Big 5 Co-Player of the Year.
Senior 2B Mike Kelch (.300, 2 HR, 27 RBI), junior LF Jamie Abercrombie (.292, 12 doubles), junior DH Carmen Del Mastro (.290), sophomore 3B Matt Heltz (.250, 29 RBI) and junior catcher Kyle Obal (.268, 15 RBI) help bolster the offensive attack. Look for newcomers Mark Ortega (junior SS from Boston College) and Byron McKoy (freshman OF) to make an early impact.
For Bethune-Cookman, Alejandro Jimenez leads the offense after batting .331 with six home runs and 30 RBI as a sophomore. The Wildcats graduated their top three bats that combined to hit 27 of the team's 40 round-trippers a year ago.
Live statistics for all three games will be available through CSTV's Gametracker on owlsports.com.
