Temple University Athletics
Owls Overcome Wind, Rams In 10-6 Victory
3.21.08 | Baseball
March 21, 2008
KINGSTON, RI - Gusty winds blowing in at over 30 mph made even the most routine fly-ball an adventure for both Temple and host Rhode Island in the Atlantic 10 opener on Friday at Bill Beck Field. It was far from a perfect day for baseball, but the teams played on, with the Owls scoring a 10-6 victory over the Rams to open the A-10 slate with a victory for the first time since 2004. Junior Mark Ortega and freshman Byron McKoy each had two hits for TU.
With temperatures in the 30s and the wind making it feel much colder, both teams stretched and took batting practice inside before venturing outdoors for the game. Only two of the 16 base-hits between the two schools went for extra-bases, while the defenses combined for 12 errors, including nine by Rhode Island.
"The wind really changed the way we played the game," head coach Rob Valli said. "Sean Barksdale caught a routine fly-ball on the infield dirt and even groundballs were being affected."
Temple (8-7, 1-0 A-10) made the most of its eight hits and took advantage of the nine URI errors to pick up the victory. Rhody (6-10, 0-1) made errors in all but two innings, leading to five unearned runs.
Senior Tom Dolan won his second straight start by allowing one earned run in six innings. He threw primarily fastballs, as the wind affected any off speed pitch, and scattered six hits to improve to 2-3. He lowered his ERA to 3.86.
The Owls jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, making the most of two Ram errors. McKoy led off the inning with a single and sophomore Matt Heltz reached base on an error by the URI rightfielder. After a groundout, junior Carmen Del Mastro singled home a run and a walk to classmate Jamie Abercrombie loaded the bases.
Another walk to senior Stan Orzechowski plated a run, but a pop-out kept the bases loaded with two outs. Barksdale grounded to third, but the play was mishandled and allowed two more runs to score to make it 4-0, Temple.
Ortega had a two-out single that scored Orzechowski in the fifth that extended the TU lead to 5-1. Rhode Island cut the advantage to 5-3 in the fifth with two unearned runs, but the Owls rebounded with three of their own in the sixth.
Two infield errors allowed Del Mastro and Abercrombie to reach base with nobody out. Orzechowski and Ortega each singled in a run and Barksdale was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Senior Mike Kelch knocked in a run on a fielder's choice, but Temple left the bases loaded, leaving the score at 8-3.
The Rams scored an unearned run off sophomore reliever Matt Blackburn in the eighth, but again, Temple extended the lead in its next at-bat. Heltz reached on a fielder's choice, moved to third on junior Kyle Obal's single and scored on a wild pitch. Abercrombie knocked in the visitors' 10th run of the contest with his RBI single to make it 10-4.
Rhode Island scored two in the ninth to cut the lead to 10-6, but stranded two runners to drop its fifth games in the last six contests.
Brett Palanski (1-2) suffered the loss for the Rams after allowing three earned runs in five innings. Mike O'Malley knocked in three runs for URI.
Temple last won an Atlantic 10 opener on March 27, 2004 with a 10-5 victory over city-rival La Salle. That season marked the last time the Owls were over .500 after 15 games (9-6). The victory also snapped a four-game losing streak to Rhode Island.
The series resumes on Saturday at 1 PM. Junior Matt Mongiardini will take on URI's Eric Smith.
NOTES: Orzechowski extended his hitting streak to nine games. He has reached base safely in all but two games and the Owls are 8-5 when he reaches base...Ortega has eight multi-hit games, more than double any of his teammates....Temple is 6-2 when its opponent makes more than two errors.
