Temple University Athletics
Nikorak, Peterson Garner A-10 Postseason Recognition
5.22.12 | Baseball
2012 All-Atlantic 10 Conference Team
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Leading up to the start of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament on Fordham University's campus on Wednesday, the league released its list of postseason award winners on Tuesday. On the list, Temple redshirt senior third baseman Steve Nikorak was named to the conference's First Team, while freshman left-handed pitcher Patrick Peterson was tabbed to the All-Rookie Team.
Nikorak, who was named to the conference's second team a year ago, was voted the “Hitter You'd Least Like to Face in the A-10” by College Baseball Insider coming into the season.
In 2012, the Owls' hot corner, who fielded a percentage of .938 and batted .302, was one of two players to start all 53 games for the Cherry & White.
As a result of reaching base in each of the first 30 games of the season, Nikorak put up numbers that led the team in several offensive categories for the Owls, including hits (62), runs scored 46) and RBIs (42)…Having 14 doubles on the year, which also led the team, Nikorak finished his career with 66 career two-base hits, which has him as the program's record holder.
Through the 24 conference games, Nikorak, who was second on the team in hitting with a .313 batting average, blasted five of his seven home runs—two of which came in back-to-back games at Massachusetts.
Back on March 12, the Stroudsburg, Pa. native was cited as the A-10's Player of the Week for the third time in his career after batting .550 (11-for-20) during the previous week and .727 in the first set of games at Skip Wilson Field. Against Central Connecticut State that weekend, Nikorak had his most explosive game of the season, as he doubled three times and hustled his way into third base for a triple. His most prolific game of the season came against Monmouth on April 1 when he crossed the dish four times, helping the Owls to their first series win of the season.
With his Temple career now in the books, his legacy has him tied for fourth place all-time in program history with 228 hits and tied for seventh all-time in school history with 182 starts.
Peterson, the rookie sensation southpaw for the Owls, earns his spot on the A-10's All-Rookie team after going 3-4 on the year through 15 appearances and 13 starts, having a staff-most 68 strikeouts and a 3.51 ERA, which was the lowest for a starting pitcher on Temple's staff.
In his very first A-10 challenge of his career when the Owls went to Saint Louis, Peterson took the hill for the second game of the series and had the most memorable performance by a Temple pitcher in 30 years.
Going into the ninth inning with 10 strikeouts and without allowing a run or a hit to a Billiken batter, Peterson was three outs away from throwing the fifth no-hitter in school history. Having thrown a perfect game while in high school, he was familiar with the situation, but unfortunately Saint Louis' leadoff hitter ended his shot at a mile stone for the Owls' rookie left-hander with a base-hit. For his outstanding effort, Peterson was named the conference's Rookie of the Week back on March 26.
Against Dayton on May 6, Peterson notched his first conference win, as he went 7.0 innings of work, in which he punched out three batters and allowed three runs on eight hits in Temple's 8-3 win over the Flyers—marking the team's second straight A-10 series win.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – Leading up to the start of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament on Fordham University's campus on Wednesday, the league released its list of postseason award winners on Tuesday. On the list, Temple redshirt senior third baseman Steve Nikorak was named to the conference's First Team, while freshman left-handed pitcher Patrick Peterson was tabbed to the All-Rookie Team.
As a result of reaching base in each of the first 30 games of the season, Nikorak put up numbers that led the team in several offensive categories for the Owls, including hits (62), runs scored 46) and RBIs (42)…Having 14 doubles on the year, which also led the team, Nikorak finished his career with 66 career two-base hits, which has him as the program's record holder.
Through the 24 conference games, Nikorak, who was second on the team in hitting with a .313 batting average, blasted five of his seven home runs—two of which came in back-to-back games at Massachusetts.
Back on March 12, the Stroudsburg, Pa. native was cited as the A-10's Player of the Week for the third time in his career after batting .550 (11-for-20) during the previous week and .727 in the first set of games at Skip Wilson Field. Against Central Connecticut State that weekend, Nikorak had his most explosive game of the season, as he doubled three times and hustled his way into third base for a triple. His most prolific game of the season came against Monmouth on April 1 when he crossed the dish four times, helping the Owls to their first series win of the season.
With his Temple career now in the books, his legacy has him tied for fourth place all-time in program history with 228 hits and tied for seventh all-time in school history with 182 starts.
In his very first A-10 challenge of his career when the Owls went to Saint Louis, Peterson took the hill for the second game of the series and had the most memorable performance by a Temple pitcher in 30 years.
Going into the ninth inning with 10 strikeouts and without allowing a run or a hit to a Billiken batter, Peterson was three outs away from throwing the fifth no-hitter in school history. Having thrown a perfect game while in high school, he was familiar with the situation, but unfortunately Saint Louis' leadoff hitter ended his shot at a mile stone for the Owls' rookie left-hander with a base-hit. For his outstanding effort, Peterson was named the conference's Rookie of the Week back on March 26.
Against Dayton on May 6, Peterson notched his first conference win, as he went 7.0 innings of work, in which he punched out three batters and allowed three runs on eight hits in Temple's 8-3 win over the Flyers—marking the team's second straight A-10 series win.
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