Temple University Athletics
Baseball Snaps Mid-Week Losing Streak With 5-2 Win Over George Mason
4.16.08 | Baseball
April 16, 2008
AMBLER, PA - Freshman Steve Nikorak recorded his first career victory and Temple (17-17) received timely hitting up and down the lineup to snap a six-game losing streak in mid-week play with a 5-2 victory over George Mason on Wednesday at Skip Wilson Field. Nikorak (1-1) scattered six hits in five innings and allowed two earned runs to the high-powered Patriot offense.
"The biggest difference was Steve Nikorak," head coach Rob Valli said. "He gave us a quality start and pitched into the second half of the game."
George Mason (18-19), currently third in the CAA standings, came into the game averaging over seven runs a game but could not solve Nikorak. The rookie right-hander struggled a bit with his control, issuing five walks, but was not overwhelmed by the Patriots, who scored a total of 31 runs against the Owls in two contests each in 2006 and 2007.
With TU leading 3-2 in the fifth, Nikorak walked the bases loaded with two outs but was able to get out of the jam with a fly-out to center. It was the only real trouble the East Stroudsburg, PA native faced before exiting.
Senior Eric Fritz relieved Nikorak in the sixth and pitched four scoreless innings for his first save. He did not allow a runner past second base and scattered three hits. The Rocky Hill, CT product worked hard to get out of a ninth-inning jam and got some help from one of his teammates.
Ryan Soares singled to lead off the ninth and Fritz walked Chris Henderson, who already had three doubles on the day, to bring Justin Bour to the plate. The sophomore came into the game leading the CAA in batting (.444) and RBI (47) and second in home runs (12).
He lined the first pitch he saw into leftfield where junior Jamie Abercrombie made a nice diving catch for the first out. Fritz struck out Scott Kreiger, the conference leader in homers (13), and got a fielder's choice to end the game.
Offensively, five different Owls drove in runs as the hosts made the most of their eight hits. In the second, junior Sean Barksdale led off the inning with a double and scored on junior Mark Ortega's single. Abercrombie followed two batters later with a RBI single to make it 2-0, Temple.
GMU cut the lead to 2-1 which stood until the fifth. Freshman Byron McKoy led off the inning with a double and scored on senior Mike Kelch's two-out single.
Temple added some insurance with two runs in the seventh. Senior Stan Orzechowski tripled home McKoy and then scored on Barksdale's sacrifice fly.
"We didn't try to do too much today offensively," Valli said. "We did a good job with runners on third and less than two outs."
Ortega led the Cherry and White with three hits.
Darren McLean (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing three earned runs in five innings. He struck out three.
Temple last won a mid-week game on March 25 with a 10-8 victory over La Salle.
The Owls will host league-leading Duquesne in a three-game series beginning on Friday at 3 PM. At 10-2 in the Atlantic 10, the Dukes are two games ahead of Temple in the conference standings with five weekends to play.
"Friday is the biggest game that I will have coached at Temple," Valli said. "It's a very important game for our team."
NOTES: Barksdale extended his hitting streak to eight games...Temple has made only two errors in its last four wins...It was just the fourth time this season that TU won with less hits than its opponent...The victory was the first in three meetings against George Mason in a series that started in Valli's first year in 2006...Mason won in 2006, 15-1, and in 2007, 18-16...McKoy has stolen eight straight bases and hasn't been caught since March 22 at Rhode Island.
