Temple University Athletics
Baseball Returns To A-10 Tournament With Doubleheader Split At Saint Louis
5.16.08 | Baseball
May 16, 2008
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
SAINT LOUIS, MO - The last time the Temple baseball team played in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, only seven current players were even in high school. All 31 players on the roster will get a taste of the postseason this spring, as the Owls qualified for the A-10 Tournament for the first time since 2002 with a 7-6 victory at Saint Louis on Friday. The Cherry and White dropped the nightcap of the doubleheader, 5-2.
With word reaching Saint Louis that George Washington had indeed lost 9-8 at Xavier, the Owls didn't even need to win to reach the playoffs. But that didn't stop the visitors, who scored three runs in the fourth inning and received seven scoreless innings from its bullpen to record the victory.
The Owls (25-27, 15-11 A-10) are currently tied for fifth place with St. Bonaventure with one game remaining on the schedule. With a victory tomorrow and losses by SBU and Rhode Island, Temple could move into fourth place.
Play begins on Wednesday at noon at Campbell's Field, home of the Atlantic League's Camden Riversharks, as the conference will award its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with the finals on Saturday. Complete seeding and additional information will be announced later this weekend.
With junior starter Matt Mongiardini on a limited pitch count once the Owls had locked up a bid, head coach Rob Valli turned to a pair of seniors. Eric Fritz, who picked up his first win of the season, twirled five scoreless innings, scattering four hits and striking out four. He escaped a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth and a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the seventh before giving way to closer Arshwin Asjes in the eighth.
Asjes retired all six batters he faced for his ninth save of the season, breaking Peter Moore's program record of eight set in 1998. The Curacao-native also moved into third on the career saves list with today's save.
After taking an early 1-0 lead in the first on freshman Byron McKoy's RBI single, the Billikens launched back-to-back home runs off Mongiardini in the bottom of the inning to take a 4-1 advantage.
A three-run frame by the visitors tied the score. Junior Mark Ortega singled home freshman Steve Nikorak, who led off the second with a single. A RBI double by senior Stan Orzechowski scored a run to cut the deficit to one, and junior Sean Barksdale tied the score on a groundout.
Saint Louis (24-28, 9-16 A-10) regained the lead with two unearned runs in the second, but it would be the last time the hosts were on top. Ortega led off the fourth with a single, moved to second on an error and advanced to third on junior Jamie Abercrombie's sacrifice bunt.
Then the top of the lineup came through. Orzechowski singled up the middle for his second RBI in as many at-bats and after a groundout, two-out singles by Barksdale and McKoy gave Temple a 7-6 lead. The slim margin proved to be enough as Fritz and Asjes were dominant the rest of the way.
The Owls managed just two more hits in their final five at-bats as SLU's Dave Sever settled in. He suffered the loss to fall to 5-6, but struck out 10 batters in a complete-game.
Orzechowski, Barksdale and McKoy all had two hits and drove in two. Barksdale had his streak of 10 straight stolen bases snapped, but did swipe one in the fourth to increase his total to 26. He is now sixth on the single-season list at TU.
SLU got on the board early in game two, scoring five runs over the first three innings and never looked back in taking a 5-2 victory. The Owls were held in check by starter Scott Turmail, who opened the game by retiring 10 straight. Junior Carmen Del Mastro's double in the fourth broke up the no-hitter, but Temple did not get on the board until the ninth, when Orzechowski clubbed his team-high seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot to left.
McKoy was the only Owl with multiple hits on the nightcap. Senior Tom Dolan suffered the loss to fall to 4-6. He allowed five earned runs in three innings.
One bright spot was senior Mike Mongiardini, who was moved up from his normal spot in the rotation to throw four scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He struck out five batters and will now have an extra day of rest for the A-10 Tournament.
Turmail (6-5) allowed just two earned runs in the complete-game victory. He struck out four and did not walk a batter.
The series and regular season concludes on Saturday. The game has been moved to GCS Ballpark in Sauget, IL. First pitch is set for 12 PM (EDT).
