Owls Fall 5-4 to Old Dominion in the 10th on Opening Day

Friday, February 17

Norfolk, VA

3:00 p.m.

Temple University

0-1

Old Dominion

1-0

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Temple	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	8	2
OLD DOMINION	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0	1	5	7	1

Matt Hockenberry

Owls Fall 5-4 to Old Dominion in the 10th on Opening Day

2.17.12 | Baseball

Box Score

Box Score

NORFOLK, Va. – Temple Baseball opened its first campaign under new head coach Ryan Wheeler with a heart wrenching 5-4 loss to the Old Dominion Monarchs in the 10^th inning on Friday afternoon at Bud Metheny Complex.

“We came out and played a real great game and did a lot of little things extremely well,” Wheeler said. “I feel bad for the guys after seeing the all-out effort they put out there today, but if we play like the way we did today all season long, we will win a lot of games. “

Right out of the chute, the Owls appeared as if they were going to shake the house, as they put up a two spot to open the contest.

In their half of the first inning, junior short stop Jordan Queja led off the inning with a base hit into left field to get the early rally started.

Queja scored later in the inning to get Temple on the board first when ODU third baseman Brent Frazier committed an error after redshirt senior Steve Nikorak laid down a sacrifice bunt.

Freshman Nick Lustrino, who walked earlier in the inning, made his way across the plate on senior Jabair Khan's RBI single to give the Owls a 2-0 lead after one.

Getting the nod to open the season on the mound for the Owls, sophomore Matt Hockenberry gave free passes to the first two hitters he faced, but found his rhythm and pitched superb from that point on.

The right handed pitcher from Hanover, Pa. worked his way out of the jam by getting the next three batters out, giving the Owls momentum heading into the second inning, where they expanded on their lead by adding David Hall's run on another Jordan Queja single into left.

Old Dominion would put up its own rally in the sixth inning after the Owls left two men in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth inning.

Shawn Sizemore got the charge stared for the Monarchs in the sixth with a leadoff walk. Later in the frame, Chris Baker doubled down the right field line to send Sizemore home to make it a two-run ballgame.

In the ensuing at bat, Josh Tutweiler slapped a base hit into right field to bring the contest to a narrow, 3-2 margin still in favor of Temple.

Hockenberry's left the game as the pitcher of record after 5.2 innings of work. His line showed he allowed two run on four hits, while striking out two Monarchs in the process.

Freshman Eric Peterson was called in to make his collegiate debut. In 1.1 innings, Peterson kept the Monarchs from doing any more damage in the sixth before setting down all three batters in the seventh inning.

The Owls would go back up by two runs in the seventh inning after Nikorak scored on a wild pitch thrown by Dean Ali to make it a score of 4-2.

ODU's bats came alive in their half of the eighth inning, helping them load the bases with one out.

Frazier took a victory away from Hockenberry with his two-run RBI single into left field off senior Steve Visnic, which knotted the game at four apiece, which is how it would remain until Michael Perez broke the deadlock in the 10th inning with his single off Brian Sustersic that scored Joey Burney for the game-winning run.

Due to rain in the forecast for Sunday, the Owls (0-1) and Old Dominion (1-0) will play a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon beginning at 2:00 p.m. Live stats and a live stream will be available. Freshman southpaw Patrick Peterson will be making his debut on the mound where he will be opposed by ODU's Ben Tomchick. Nikorak will start for the Owls in the 5:30 p.m. matchup, while Brett Harris gets the nod for the Monarchs.