Temple University Athletics
Late Rally Gives Xavier 14-9 Win Over Temple
4.25.09 | Baseball
April 25, 2009
AMBLER, PA - Xavier scored seven runs to complete a game-long comeback and defeat Temple, 14-9, on a warm Saturday afternoon at Skip Wilson Field. The Owls led 8-2 after two innings but were outscored 12-1 the rest of the way. Senior Sean Barksdale, who moved into second place on the all-time RBI list, had a grand slam in the second inning.
Leading 9-7 after seven innings, the Cherry and White needed six outs to secure the series victory. But Xavier used a grand slam of its own, a towering blast to center by Ben Thomas, to take a 12-8 lead. The visitors tacked on a pair of unearned runs to complete the scoring.
Temple did most of its damage in the first two innings, taking a commanding 8-2 lead on the unseasonably warm day in Ambler, with temperatures in the high 80s. Senior Mark Ortega had a two-out, two-run single in the first to cut the XU lead to 3-2.
The Owls scored six in the second, four coming off the bat of Barksdale, who hit a grand slam homer. It marked the second straight day that a TU player hit a grand slam, following junior Tony Jusino's blast yesterday.
Barksdale now has 44 RBI this season and 150 for his career, passing former major leaguer John Marzano into second place on the school's all-time list. Pete Dempsey (1976-78) holds the record with 154 runs batted in.
Barksdale's 13 homers give him 25 for his career, placing him tied for fifth on the career list with Dempsey and Marzano. The 13 dingers are the sixth most in a season at TU and the most since John Quigley's 14 in 2003.
Freshman Foster Dunigan and senior Carmen Del Mastro added a RBI single and RBI double, respectively, in the second.
Sophomore Byron McKoy had his third straight game with at least three hits and drove in an insurance run in the seventh with a double. Senior Kyle Obal also had three hits for TU.
Junior Matt Blackburn suffered the loss after allowing seven runs (five earned) in 1.1 innings. He falls to 3-1.
Zac Richard picked up the win in relief, throwing 1.1 scoreless innings. XU was kept in the game by reliever Brett Greenwell, who tossed five innings and allowed one earned run.
Thomas had four hits and four RBI for the Musketeers, and Neil Lindgren added four hits as well.
The Owls (16-21, 10-6 A-10) are currently in third place in the league, one game-ahead of Fordham and 1.5 games ahead of Charlotte and Xavier.
The series will conclude on Sunday at noon.
