Temple University Athletics
Owls Use Long Ball To Defeat Charlotte, 8-6
4.18.09 | Baseball
April 18, 2009
AMBLER, PA - Temple hit three important home runs and left just two runners on base in defeating Charlotte, 8-6, on Saturday afternoon at Skip Wilson Field. Charlotte native Byron McKoy hit his second homer in as many days and senior Sean Barksdale blasted two long balls, one a towering shot to center that gave the Owls the lead for good in the fifth.
Barksdale has now hit six homers in his past seven games and has a conference and team-best 11 on the season. The 11 dingers are good for eighth in a single season at TU, while his 23 homers move the Cardinal O’Hara graduate into a tie for ninth all-time.
His final home run of the day, a solo shot in the seventh, gave the Owls (14-19, 9-4 A-10) an insurance run and an 8-6 lead. It was the 199th hit of his career and his next base knock will make him the fifth Temple player to reach 200.
While McKoy and Barksdale provided most of the offense, freshman southpaw Dan Moller and a trio of relievers pitched well enough to win. Moller (3-4) allowed only two earned runs in six innings and struck out four for the win. The rookie is 3-1 with a 4.45 ERA in A-10 games.
Freshman Tyler Horst pitched the seventh and junior Matt Blackburn threw a scoreless eighth. Junior Ryan Thomas, slated to start the series finale on Sunday, pitched a scoreless ninth for his third save, all in conference play.
Two unearned runs gave the 49ers a 2-0 lead in the first, but McKoy’s two-run homer highlighted a three-run third to put the Owls on top. Senior Jamie Abercrombie, who had two hits, also drove in a run in the third.
Charlotte (21-14, 6-8) tied the game with a run in the fourth, but the Cherry and White regained the lead when freshman Jabair Khan singled home senior Kyle Obal, who had doubled.
The 49ers again tied it at 4-4 in the fifth, but Barksdale’s two-run homer to center gave TU the lead for good. Obal doubled home junior Tony Jusino, who had singled, to make it 7-4.
In the eighth, the visitors drew within one by scoring two runs, one on a two-out error, to cut the deficit to 7-6. Barksdale’s homer made it 8-6 and Thomas allowed only a lead-off single in the ninth to pick up the save.
Barksdale, Jusino, Obal and Abercrombie all had two hits for the Owls.
Andrew Smith (2-5) suffered the loss for the 49ers, after allowing five earned runs in 4.1 innings. Zane Williams had two hits and two RBI for Charlotte.
The series concludes on Sunday at 1 PM. OwlAccess will broadcast the game on owlsports.com.
