Temple University Athletics
Comeback Stalls In Ninth As Owls Fall To Xavier, 6-5
4.26.09 | Baseball
April 26, 2009
AMBLER, PA - Temple drew within one in the ninth and had the tying run on second with two outs but the comeback came up short in a 6-5 loss to Xavier on Sunday. The Owls rallied from a 4-0 deficit but never tied the game or took the lead. Junior Tony Jusino had two hits and three RBI, including a two-out double in the ninth that brought the hosts within one.
The Cherry and White (16-22, 10-7 A-10) remain in third place in the conference, a half-game ahead of Charlotte and Xavier. The Owls will visit Richmond (7-11 A-10) this weekend before hosting Saint Louis (6-11 A-10) on May 9-11. TU will conclude the regular season at Fordham (9-9 A-10) on May 16-18. The top six teams will qualify for the Atlantic 10 Tournament in Dayton, OH beginning May 22.
Junior Ryan Thomas pitched well for the majority of his seven inning stint, making only a few costly pitches in a four-run second. Xavier blasted two homers in the frame to take an early 4-0 lead.
Thomas allowed just one more hit and did not permit a runner past second for the next four innings. The Musketeers added an insurance run in the seventh on a pair of singles and a sacrifice fly. The righthander (3-3) suffered the loss after allowing five earned in seven innings, scattering seven hits and striking out four.
Temple slowly chipped away after only recording one hit over the first three innings. A senior Kyle Obal single plated a run in the fourth, but the Owls wasted a good opportunity in the frame, leaving the bases loaded.
Two runs in the fifth, on Jusino's two-out single, cut the deficit to 4-3. Back-to-back doubles by Obal and senior Mark Ortega to open the eighth made it 5-4, but Temple could not score Ortega from second as XU closer Jordan Conley struck out the next two batters and induced a groundout to finish the frame.
In the ninth, senior Sean Barksdale walked with one out and scored from first on Jusino's deep double to right-center. He was stranded and the Owls dropped their second straight A-10 series.
Senior Carmen Del Mastro had two hits, raising his average to a team-best .394. Obal and Ortega, who moved into third on the single season doubles list with 19, also had a pair of hits.
Josh Deeg (3-2) earned the win with 2.1 innings of relief. He allowed one earned run and struck out two. Conley picked up his fifth save after striking out three in two innings.
Adam Pasano had two hits and drove in two.
Temple visits Villanova on Tuesday at 3:15 PM.
