Temple University Athletics
Owls Fall To Villanova, 14-10, In Liberty Bell Classic
3.31.09 | Baseball
March 31, 2009
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA - Recent history has shown that when Temple and Villanova take the field at the Ballpark at Plymouth, fans are in for a wild game. Today's Liberty Bell Classic quarterfinal was no different, as the two teams combined for 10 first inning runs in a contest that featured a straight steal of home in a 14-10 Wildcat victory on Tuesday. Senior Jamie Abercrombie had three hits while classmate Lenny DelGrippo doubled, homered and drove in two runs.
Villanova moves on to face Lehigh in the semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic with the winner of that game advancing to the finals at Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies. Temple will now play La Salle at a location to be determined on Tuesday, April 7.
The winning team has scored double-digit runs in six of the last seven meetings between the two schools at the ballpark on Germantown Pike in Plymouth Meeting. Today's game, with each team scoring five runs in the first inning, was reminiscent of a 2005 campaign that started with Temple scoring six first inning runs in an 11-10 loss.
The defeat marked the first time since 2006 that the Owls will not reach the semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic. Villanova is 3-1 against TU in the LBC, including the first-ever matchup in the tournament in 1992.
Abercrombie now has 193 career hits, good for sixth on the all-time list and could become the fourth Owl to reach 200 base knocks this weekend at Massachusetts. He has now reached base in 13 straight contests, with the Owls going 9-4 in that span.
Senior Sean Barksdale, who launched his team-best fifth home run of the season, moved into seventh place on the all-time RBI list with his 129th run batted in. He walked twice and scored three runs on Tuesday.
DelGrippo continued to swing the bat well. Eight of his 10 hits this season have gone for extra bases and his home run to deep right-center was his first since hitting two at Xavier on May 7, 2006. The senior is batting .364 with five doubles and seven RBI in his last seven games.
Senior Carmen Del Mastro was 1-for-3 and has now reached base in 22 of 23 games this season for Temple. The reigning A-10 and Big 5 Player of the Week is batting a team-best .441.
Temple (11-12) got on the board with five runs in the first. After Del Mastro singled and Barksdale walked with one out, senior Kyle Obal singled to score a run and senior Mark Ortega drove in a run with a groundout.
Abercrombie followed with an RBI single and sophomore Rafael Cordero singled with two outs and DelGrippo plated two runs with his double to right to make it 5-0.
VU rallied for five runs, taking advantage of four walks, in a 50-minute first inning to tie the score. Wildcat senior Joe Cotter executed a straight steal of home and Villanova also manufactured a run with a two-out balk.
DelGrippo's solo homer gave TU a short-lived lead in the third before Nova answered in the bottom of the inning on a sacrifice fly to tie the score at 6-6.
The hosts took a 9-6 advantage with three runs in the fourth and never looked back. Matt McFolling had a two-run double in the frame.
Villanova (13-12) broke the game open with five runs in the sixth, taking advantage of two TU errors to make it 14-6.
The Cherry and White rallied for three runs in the seventh on an RBI double by Ortega and a RBI single by Abercrombie. Barksdale's ninth-inning homer accounted for the final run of the game.
Freshman Tyler Horst (0-2) suffered the loss after allowing six earned runs in 5.2 innings. Junior Mike Click pitched two innings of scoreless relief.
Kyle Helisek (3-1) earned the win for Villanova after pitching six innings. He allowed six earned runs and struck out three.
McFolling had three hits and three RBI, while David Koczirka and Wesley Borden each had two hits and four RBI for Villanova.
Temple looks to continue its hold on first place in the Atlantic 10 with a three-game series at Massachusetts. First pitch on Friday is set for 3 PM.
