Temple University Athletics
Abercrombie's Slam Leads Temple Past Lehigh, 10-5
3.17.09 | Baseball
March 17, 2009
BETHLEHEM, PA - Senior Jamie Abercrombie hit a grand slam in the first inning and Temple never looked back in beating Lehigh, 10-5, on Tuesday in Bethlehem, PA. The home run was the first for the leftfielder since his first at-bat as an Owl on March 5, 2006 at Hawaii-Hilo. Classmate Kyle Obal also had three hits and knocked in three for TU.
After senior Carmen Del Mastro reached on a fielder's choice, senior Sean Barksdale walked and Obal singled to load the bases with one out. Abercrombie then drove a Cory Kent pitch over the rightfield wall to give the visitors an early 4-0 lead.
The Ambler, PA native now has 179 career hits, good for 12th all-time at Temple, and leads the Owls with a .386 batting average and seven doubles.
Lehigh answered with a run in the bottom of the inning, but the Cherry and White added two unearned runs in the second on Obal's two-out, two-run single to take a 6-1 lead.
Junior Matt Blackburn, making his first start since May 8, 2007 at Delaware, cruised with the lead. He scattered four hits the rest of the way and left after five innings with only one earned run to his name. Blackburn also struck out a career-high six batters in earning his first win of the season.
A RBI single by freshman Taylor Juran, who was making his second straight start at first base, increased the lead to 7-1 in the fifth. The Owls made it 10-1 in the sixth on consecutive RBI doubles by Obal and Abercrombie and a RBI single by senior Mark Ortega.
Lehigh (3-15) scored four runs late to close the gap but lost for the 11th straight game. Kent (2-1) suffered the loss after allowing four earned runs in three innings.
Senior catcher Steve Mury added a single and double for Temple, which won for the second straight contest.
Temple (4-9) hosts Big 5 rival Penn on Wednesday at 3 PM.
