Temple University Athletics
Owls Earn Series Victory With Doubleheader Split At UMass
4.5.09 | Baseball
April 5, 2009
Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score
AMHERST, MA - Trailing by three runs, senior Jamie Abercrombie hit a grand-slam with two outs in the ninth inning to give Temple a dramatic 8-7 victory over Massachusetts in the opener of a doubleheader on Sunday at Earl Lorden Field. The Owls ninth-inning rally came up a run short in the nightcap for their first Atlantic 10 loss of the season, 7-6. The Cherry and White, currently in first place in the league, have now won five straight A-10 series, the most since winning six straight in 1983-84.
At 8-1 in the conference, the Owls are off to their best start since starting with that same record in 1983. The nine-game conference winning streak, dating back to last year's regular season finale at Saint Louis, was the most since winning 15 straight from April 17, 1983 to April 14, 1984. Temple (13-13 overall) is one game ahead of second-place Rhode Island (7-2) for the top spot.
The series victory wouldn't have been possible except for some late heroics by Abercrombie, who blasted his second grand slam of his career, and in the past month, in the ninth.
Trailing 7-4, sophomore Byron McKoy led off with a single and senior Carmen Del Mastro was hit by a pitch. Senior Sean Barksdale then hit a line drive at the shortstop, who turned the double play, which looked to thwart the rally.
But for the second straight game, the UMass defense kept the inning alive. Two straight errors in the infield gave Abercrombie a chance to be the hero with the bases loaded. He drove a 1-0 pitch over the fence in right field to give the Owls an 8-7 lead. It held up when junior Ryan Thomas, who started the nightcap, came in relief and pitched a scoreless ninth for his second save.
Abercrombie, who singled, doubled, homered and drove in four runs, now has 197 career hits, good for fourth all-time at Temple. He needs three more to become the fourth Owl, and first since Rob Cucinotta in 2003, to reach the 200-hit plateau.
The Owls trailed 3-2 in the middle innings before taking a 4-3 lead on senior Mark Ortega's two-run homer in the sixth.
But UMass scored in the sixth, seventh and eighth to take a 7-4 lead and set up for Abercrombie's heroics.
Freshman Tyler Horst picked up the win to improve to 1-2. He pitched one-third of an inning. Classmate Dan Moller started for TU, throwing six innings and allowing three earned runs.
Jim MacDonald has three hits and drove in two for the Minutemen. Bryan Leigh suffered the loss (0-4), allowing four runs, all unearned, in 1.1 innings of relief.
In game two, Temple scored two runs in the ninth and left the bases loaded in a 7-6 loss. The Owls headed into their final at-bat trailing by three but their late-inning magic had run out.
Freshman Jabair Khan, who is batting .384 (10-for-26) in his last eight games, led off the ninth with a single. After a strikeout, Del Mastro and Barksdale singled to load the bases and chase eventual winning pitcher Nick Serino (2-2).
Mitchell Eilenberg walked McKoy for the inning's first run and a senior Kyle Obal RBI grounder made it 7-6. Junior Tony Jusino worked a walk to load the bases, but the tying run remained 90 feet away as the Owls fell for the first time in A-10 play this spring.
The Cherry and White took a 4-3 lead in the fourth on a two-run homer by McKoy and a solo shot by Jusino, his first as an Owl. But the visitors did not advance a runner past second in the next four innings before rallying in the ninth.
Thomas allowed one earned run in five innings, and struck out three. Sophomore Jordan Cannon suffered the loss, allowing four earned runs in 1.2 innings.
Serino struck out six in 3.2 innings and allowed two earned runs. Mike Donato had three hits for UMass (7-16, 2-7).
The Owls will visit La Salle on Tuesday in a non-conference game beginning at 3 PM.
NOTES: Barksdale moved into eighth place all-time in hits with 186, passing Bobby Higginson (1989, 91-92) and Mike Weckenman (2002-05) with 184...Abercrombie is third in career at-bats (679).
