Temple University Athletics
Sunday, March 11
Ambler, Pa.
Noon
Temple University
5-9
4
vs
9
Iona
3-9
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Iona
3
2
2
0
0
0
0
2
0
9
12
1
Temple
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
0
0
4
9
1
Steve Visnic
Photo by: Mitchell Leff
Baseball Falls 9-4 to Iona
3.11.12 | Baseball
Box Score | Nikorak Video
AMBLER — Closing out the first weekend of the season at Skip Wilson Field, Temple Baseball fell in a 6-0 hole built by Iona through the first three inning and couldn't recover, as it dropped a 9-4 decision to the Gaels on Sunday afternoon.
Looking to close out a weekend sweep in their opening weekend at home, the Owls sent redshirt senior right hander Steve Nikorak to the hill.
After allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the game, senior Chris Burke belted a pitch over the left field wall off Nikorak, putting the Gaels up with a threatening 3-0 lead with nobody out.
Nikorak worked his way out of the first, forcing two ground outs and getting Joe Smith to strike out.
Gaels' starter John Nagorski breezed through the first two innings, holding Temple hitless until the third inning when it started to break into Iona's 6-0 lead.
Senior Jabair Khan got the rally started for the Owls with his base hit through the left side. Foster Dunigan came to the plate and ripped a double down the left field line, putting two runners in scoring position with nobody out.
Temple got its first run on the board compliments of a balk committed by Nagorski, as Khan trotted home from third, while Dunigan moved to third with Queja at the plate before smacking the ball up the middle to bring Queja home to make it a 6-2 game still with nobody out.
The Owls looked to generate more run production in the inning, but after Nikroak bumped Queja to second on his single, Queja later was gunned down over at third base on the caught steal attempt.
Nikorak's day was over after 3.0 innings of work, allowing redshirt junior Steve Visnic to enter the ballgame.
Visnic pitched an effective 3.1 innings for the Owls on Sunday afternoon, in which he did not surrender a run on three hits given up. In his last three appearances, Visnic has not allowed a run in 8.0 innings of work, keeping his ERA down to a low 0.79 on the season.
Nikorak remained in the ballgame as the designated hitter in the three-hole, where he mustered a two-for-three day at the dish, extending him to a season-long six-game hitting streak while reaching base for the 14th straight game.
On the weekend, the Stroudsburg, Pa. native batted .727 by going 8-for-11 at the plate, in which he collected 15 total bases.
In the seventh, the Owls began to make thing s look interesting. Sophomore Connor Reilly led off the inning with an infield single, right back to the pitcher. Junior Allen Stiles came in to pinch run for Reilly before redshirt junior Matt Elko smashed a pitch to dead center field for a three-base hit, scoring Stiles to split the initial deficit.
A ground out by Khan in the next at bat was enough to squeeze Elko home to cut it to a 6-4 Iona lead.
Responding to the Temple threat, Iona built back its four-run lead on Matthew Kriss's two-out two-run RBI double to put the Gaels up 9-4.
With its first weekend home set in the books, the Owls drop to 5-9 on the year before hosting La Salle in a midweek non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Skip Wilson Field.
AMBLER — Closing out the first weekend of the season at Skip Wilson Field, Temple Baseball fell in a 6-0 hole built by Iona through the first three inning and couldn't recover, as it dropped a 9-4 decision to the Gaels on Sunday afternoon.
Looking to close out a weekend sweep in their opening weekend at home, the Owls sent redshirt senior right hander Steve Nikorak to the hill.
After allowing back-to-back singles to lead off the game, senior Chris Burke belted a pitch over the left field wall off Nikorak, putting the Gaels up with a threatening 3-0 lead with nobody out.
Nikorak worked his way out of the first, forcing two ground outs and getting Joe Smith to strike out.
Gaels' starter John Nagorski breezed through the first two innings, holding Temple hitless until the third inning when it started to break into Iona's 6-0 lead.
Senior Jabair Khan got the rally started for the Owls with his base hit through the left side. Foster Dunigan came to the plate and ripped a double down the left field line, putting two runners in scoring position with nobody out.
Temple got its first run on the board compliments of a balk committed by Nagorski, as Khan trotted home from third, while Dunigan moved to third with Queja at the plate before smacking the ball up the middle to bring Queja home to make it a 6-2 game still with nobody out.
The Owls looked to generate more run production in the inning, but after Nikroak bumped Queja to second on his single, Queja later was gunned down over at third base on the caught steal attempt.
Nikorak's day was over after 3.0 innings of work, allowing redshirt junior Steve Visnic to enter the ballgame.
Visnic pitched an effective 3.1 innings for the Owls on Sunday afternoon, in which he did not surrender a run on three hits given up. In his last three appearances, Visnic has not allowed a run in 8.0 innings of work, keeping his ERA down to a low 0.79 on the season.
Nikorak remained in the ballgame as the designated hitter in the three-hole, where he mustered a two-for-three day at the dish, extending him to a season-long six-game hitting streak while reaching base for the 14th straight game.
On the weekend, the Stroudsburg, Pa. native batted .727 by going 8-for-11 at the plate, in which he collected 15 total bases.
In the seventh, the Owls began to make thing s look interesting. Sophomore Connor Reilly led off the inning with an infield single, right back to the pitcher. Junior Allen Stiles came in to pinch run for Reilly before redshirt junior Matt Elko smashed a pitch to dead center field for a three-base hit, scoring Stiles to split the initial deficit.
A ground out by Khan in the next at bat was enough to squeeze Elko home to cut it to a 6-4 Iona lead.
Responding to the Temple threat, Iona built back its four-run lead on Matthew Kriss's two-out two-run RBI double to put the Gaels up 9-4.
With its first weekend home set in the books, the Owls drop to 5-9 on the year before hosting La Salle in a midweek non-conference game on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 3:00 p.m. at Skip Wilson Field.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nargoski (0-0)
L: Nikorak, Steve (0-0)
Batting:
2B: Torres 1 ; Kriss, M 1 ; Capowski, E 1
HR: Burke 1
RBI: Torres 1 ; Burke 4 ; Kriss, M 2 ; Capowski, E 1 ; Vitulano 1
SH: Capowski, E 1
SF: Burke 1 ; Lyall 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Torres 1 ; Guiliano 2 ; Burke 1 ; Beck 1 ; Kriss, M 1 ; Smith, J 1 ; Lyall 1 ; Vitulano 1
SB: Kriss, M 1
CS: Smith, J 1
Batting:
2B: Dunigan, Foster 1
3B: Elko, Matt 1
RBI: Queja, Jordan 1 ; Elko, Matt 1 ; Khan, Jabair 1
SF: Lustrino, Nick 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Stiles, Allen 1 ; Elko, Matt 1 ; Khan, Jabair 1 ; Dunigan, Foster 1
SB: Khan, Jabair 1
CS: Queja, Jordan 2
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
p/dh
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
pr/rf
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
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