Temple University Athletics
Temple Sets Program Record For League Wins With 5-0 Victory At Saint Louis
5.17.08 | Baseball
May 17, 2008
Box Score | Atlantic 10 Tournament Bracket (PDF)
SAUGET, IL - Temple set a program record for conference wins in a season and secured the fourth seed in next week's Atlantic 10 Tournament by beating Saint Louis, 5-0, on Saturday at GCS Ballpark. The victory improved the Owls to 26-27 overall and 16-11 in the Atlantic 10, breaking the previous record of 15 league wins set in 1960 and 2001. The Cherry and White, who is making its first trip to the postseason since 2002, will take on fifth-seeded Rhode Island on Wednesday at noon at Campbell's Field in Camden, NJ.
On a day when four Billikens were playing their final collegiate game, it was a pair of freshman that shined for the Owls. Steve Nikorak did not allow a hit until the fifth and twirled six scoreless innings, scattering two hits, to improve to 3-3 on the season.
He struck out a career-high five batters and did not allow a runner past first base. His second inning strikeout also surpassed the team record for strikeouts in a season of 325 set in 1984. The Owls currently have 334 whiffs to their credit.
Offensively, it was rookie Byron McKoy who powered the eight-hit attack. His two-run home run in the first gave the Owls a lead they would not relinquish and he added a RBI single in the seventh to make it 3-0.
A strong candidate for A-10 Rookie of the Year honors, McKoy leads the team in hitting (.357) and is second in hits (61), doubles (11) and home runs (six). His 61 hits are a freshman record at Temple.
Junior Sean Barksdale extended his hitting streak to a season-high 13 games with a first-inning single. Senior Stan Orzechowski and sophomore Matt Heltz each had a pair of singles to lead the Temple offense. Orzechowski scored his team-leading 53rd run of the season, which ties him with Bob Filler (2001) for tenth on the single season list.
The Owl bullpen continued its scoreless streak to 15 innings as freshman Ben White and sophomore Ryan Thomas combined for three scoreless frames on Saturday. Temple relievers did not allow a run during the three-game series at Saint Louis.
The shutout was the second in as many weekends for the Cherry and White, who beat Dayton, 1-0, last Saturday. It is the first time since April 12 and April 19, 2003 that the Owls threw shutouts on back-to-back weekends. That season, TU beat Saint Joseph's, 13-0, and St. Bonaventure, 1-0.
After McKoy's first-inning home run, the Owls were quiet until the seventh. Junior Jamie Abercrombie led off the inning with a walk and moved to third on Orzechowski's double. After a groundout, Barksdale walked to load the bases and McKoy singled home Abercrombie to make it 3-0.
A strikeout gave Saint Louis (24-28, 9-18 A-10) the second out, but junior Kyle Obal was hit by a pitch to score a run. A bases-loaded walk to junior Mark Ortega made it 5-0. Overall, the Owls took advantage of eight walks issued by Billiken pitchers.
Zach Outman (2-8) suffered the loss for SLU after allowing five earned runs in 6.2 innings. Tom Pinnell had two of Saint Louis' five hits.
Xavier is the top seed for the 30th annual Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship to be held May 21-24 at Campbell's Field, home of the Atlantic League's Camden Riversharks. The Musketeers (25-29/19-8) won their final five league contests en route to claiming a share of the A-10 regular season crown for the first time since capturing the 1997 West Division title
Defending champion Charlotte (40-14/19-8) earned the No. 2 seed and an opening round bye. The 49ers seek to become the first A-10 team to win consecutive Championships since Virginia Tech (1999-00). A different A-10 team has hoisted the trophy in each of the last eight seasons
Duquesne (24-27-1/16-10) is the third seed after earning its first Championship berth since 2005 and will take on sixth-seeded St. Bonaventure (29-22/15-12) in opening round action.
Play commences on Wednesday with No. 4 Temple facing fifth-seeded Rhode Island at 12:00pm., while third-seeded Duquesne meets No. 6 St. Bonaventure at 3:30 pm. The losers of games one and two will square off at 7:00 pm in an elimination game for both teams. On Thursday, No. 1 Xavier takes on the TU-URI winner at 12:00pm, followed by second-seeded Charlotte versus the DUQ-SBU winner at 3:30pm.
Live video streaming of the Championship will be available for $4.95 per day. Annual subscribers to All-Access for the six A-10 teams participating in the Championship and XXL annual subscribers will be able to view the action at no charge. For complete coverage of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship, log on to www.atlantic10.org.
Single day passes are $7 for adults, $3 for Atlantic 10 students, children under 18 and senior citizens and $2 for groups of eight or more. Four-day passes are $20 and $10 for Atlantic 10 students, children under 18 and senior citizens.
