Baseball Bids Adieu To Seniors; Endures Series Sweep From URI In Season Finale

Saturday, May 19

Ambler, Pa.

Noon

Temple University

19-34, 7-17

Rhode Island

32-23-1, 16-8

Rhode Island

Temple

Baseball Bids Adieu To Seniors; Endures Series Sweep From URI In Season Finale

5.19.12 | Baseball

Box Score

AMBLER— Closing out the 2012 season, Temple was handed a series sweep from the Rhode Island Rams on Senior Day at Skip Wilson Field. Trailing 12-2 in the ninth, the Owlsended the season on a high note, exploding for four runs in the frame, but fell short, losing 12-6. Prior to the ballgame, Temple Athletics honored all six seniors who were playing their final game in the Cherry and White.

Winning the first two games of the weekend set, the Rams poured on the damage once again, as they scored in each of the first five innings to take a commanding 11-0 lead.

The Owls got on the board in the sixth when reigning Atlantic 10 and Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week redshirt junior Matt Elko smashed a bullet over the left field fence for his first career home run with redshirt senior Steve Nikorak already on base.

The Rams recouped one of their runs in the eighth inning before the Owls put up their most productive inning of the series in the bottom of the ninth.

Following a double play put out, junior Henry Knabe made his way over to third and represented Temple's first run of the inning. Junior Allen Stiles, senior Jabair Khan crossed the dish compliments on a throwing error before junior Elijah Yarborough scored on a wild pitch to bring the Owls within six runs, which is how it would end.

Making his 182nd career start, redshirt senior Steve Nikorak hit his 66th career double and picked up a total of two hits on the ballgame- with his second hit coming in the ninth to pull him in a three-way tie for fourth place all-time at Temple with 228 career hits. Nikorak ends the season with a .299 batting average through 201 at-bats. His legacy at Temple has him in first place all-time in two-base hits, in a tie for fourth place in hits and in a tie for seventh place in career starts.

With a 1-for-4 ballgame, senior Foster Dunigan was able to hang on to the team's top batting average at .305. For Dunigan, it marks the second time in his career while donning the Cherry & White that he finished the season with the Owls' highest batting average.

Also ending their careers on Saturday, seniors Brant Norlander and Brian Sustersic each made appearances into the ballgame. The two combined for 3.0 innings of work, in which they were not charged a run and combined to surrender just one hit.

Temple's first season under head coach Ryan Wheeler concludes with a record of 19-33 and 7-17 in A-10 play.