Temple University Athletics
Temple University
12-21, 0-7
Charlotte
15-19, 3-7
Owls Handled By Charlotte In A-10 Home Opener, 10-1
4.13.12 | Baseball
AMBLER— Temple dropped its Atlantic 10 Conference home opener to the Charlotte 49ers on Friday afternoon at Skip Wilson Field, losing by a count of 10-1.
Charlotte's Andrew Smith, who is the reigning A-10 Pitcher of the Year, threw a complete game in which he allowed just the one run on eight hits, while the 49ers offense played a lot of small ball and threw up a ton of run support for their starter.
Senior Taylor Juran was not fazed by Smith's performance, as he went 3-for-4 on this day at the dish, including the RBI single into right field that scored redshirt junior Matt Elko for the team's only run of the game in the fourth inning. Elko finished the day with a pair of hits, while senior Jabair Khan extended his hitting streak to nine consecutive games with his base hit through the left side with one out.
The 49ers swiped five runs off the Owls with senior Dan Moller on the hill, who went 3.1 innings pitched.
Only two of the five runs scored in his outing were earned due to the two errors he committed.
Charlotte got its fourth and fifth runs in an interesting way during the third inning.
With what was thought to be a 3-1 count by just about everyone besides the umpires, during Derek Gallello's at bat, runners Shane Basen and Corbin Shiveran on the pitch. Gallello thought he had himself a walk, but since the count had been 2-1 according to the umpires, Gallello was forced to head back to the plate to fight a 3-1 pitch. However, since the runners broke for third and second base, they were able to pull off the double steal despite Gallello being in confusion on whether or not he should have been awarded the base or not.
On the very next pitch, Gallello smashed the ball into right field to clear the bases and to put the 49ers in control.
The Owls would make their best attempt at making a comeback in the fourth, as Elko doubled and Juran singled to lead off the inning to score Elko. Khan would reach base on his hit, but back-to-back out would end the threat.
The Niners went on to score two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings between freshman Adam Dian and sophomore Ryan Davis. Steve Ahlbrandt pitched a scoreless ninth inning for the Owls.
Temple and Charlotte will resume the weekend series Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Sophomore righty Matt Hockenberry will have the ball for the Owls, while Charlotte will send right-hander Joe Yermal to the hill.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: SMITH, Andrew (4-5)
L: Moller, Dan (0-5)
Batting:
2B: ROLAND, Justin 1 ; CLEMMONS, Leland 1
3B: BASEN, Shane 1 ; CLEMMONS, Leland 1
RBI: ROLAND, Justin 1 ; MONTALBANO, Tony 1 ; BASEN, Shane 3 ; GALLELLO, Derek 2 ; CLEMMONS, Leland 2
SH: ELSESER, J.J. 3 ; GALLELLO, Derek 1 ; RALEY, Patrick 1
SF: BASEN, Shane 1
Base Running:
RUNS: ROLAND, Justin 2 ; ELSESER, J.J. 1 ; GREEN, Michael 1 ; SHIVE, Corbin 2 ; SEAGER, Justin 1 ; CLEMMONS, Leland 3
SB: ROLAND, Justin 1 ; ELSESER, J.J. 2 ; SHIVE, Corbin 1 ; CLEMMONS, Leland 3
CS: GALLELLO, Derek 1
HBP: SEAGER, Justin 1 ; CLEMMONS, Leland 1 ; RALEY, Patrick 1
PO: RALEY, Patrick 1
Batting:
2B: Elko, Matt 1
RBI: Juran, Taylor 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Elko, Matt 1
