Temple University Athletics
Temple University
LA SALLE
Softball Picks Up A Pair of Wins Over La Salle on Senior Day
5.2.10 | Softball
Owls take game one, 6-0; win second one 3-1
Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score
AMBLER, Pa. – The Temple softball team played its final home games of the season on Sunday, May 2, picking up two critical wins against La Salle, 6-0 and 3-1. With the wins, the Owls are still in the hunt for one of the six playoff spots at the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
After a ceremony honoring the seniors prior to the games, the Cherry & White got things going early when the second batter for Temple, sophomore Christina Sykora stepped in and sent the first pitch she faced over the center field fence.
TU added two more in the third when senior Danielle Fagan hit her ninth homerun of the season, scoring herself and freshman Ali Robinson who had walked just before her. With the dinger, Fagan moves into sole possession of third place on Temple's career homerun list with 17.
Already holding a 3-0 lead, the Owls tacked on three more in the bottom of the fourth inning. With one out, Temple recorded three straight singles to load the bases and chase Explorers starting pitcher Laura Beth McCreesh. D.J. Guinn came on in relief and hit Robinson with a pitch to force in sophomore Samantha Schoell. Fagan then recorded her third RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly to center to bring in junior Kristen Marris. TU got one more on the play after an errant throw allowed Sykora to come in as well.
La Salle found the hits hard to come by while facing Marris. The right-hander gave up just one hit in the 5.2 innings she pitched before sophomore Lauren Spoo closed out the final 1.1 innings, also surrendering just one hit. McCreesh (1-9) took the loss, giving up five hits and six runs in 3.1 innings of work. Guinn gave up one hit in here 2.2 innings.
Marris was back on the mound for the Owls in game two. This time she went the distance for her 19th complete game of the season, matching her season-high with 10 strikeouts in the contest.
It took Temple a little longer to get on the board this time, but the host team was still the first to strike, plating a run in the fourth. After sophomore Rachel Knable drew a walk with one out, freshman Kayla Cook bunted to sacrifice her into scoring position, but an errant throw from pitcher Gina Massaro allowed Knable to come all the way around and score.
The Owls added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Robinson was again hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Fagan followed with a double to right center field, scoring sophomore Alysse Pujol who was pinch running for Robinson. Knable grounded out to shortstop for the first out of the frame, but it also advanced sophomore Christine Schlichter, pinch running for Fagan, to third. A well-placed groundout to second by Cook on the next play allowed Schlichter to come across the plate for the 3-0 lead.
Those runs proved valuable as La Salle finally got to Marris for a run in the top of the seventh. Guinn drew a walk to open the inning in a pinch hit appearance and Liz Reed sacrificed the baserunner to second. The Cherry & White got another out and looked like they might get out of the jam, but Breanna DiTommaso sent a double to left field to drive in the Explorers' only run of the day. Marris did get the next batter to foul out to third to end the game.
Marris is 12-13 on the year and with 15 strikeouts on the day, has moved into third place on TU's single-season top-10 list with 131 this year. She surrendered just four hits in the complete-game effort. Massaro (6-9) took the loss, giving up four hits and three runs in 6.0 innings of work.
The Owls are 18-27 overall and 7-9 in the Atlantic 10. The squad closes out the regular-season with a trip north next weekend to face #21 UMass on Friday and Saturday, and Rhode Island for a doubleheader on Sunday. La Salle is 13-28-1 overall and 2-16 in the A-10.
After the game, Temple held a team picnic and handed out awards for the season. Schoell earned the team's “Heart & Guts” award, given to the player who demonstrates a winning attitude and epitomizes a team player throughout the season. Fagan was named the team's Player of the Year.
