Baseball Pulls Off 7-3 Upset Over #24 Virginia Tech In Blacksburg

Saturday, February 23

Blacksburg, Va.

11:00 a.m.

Temple University

1-2

Virginia Tech

4-1

Temple

Virginia Tech

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Baseball Pulls Off 7-3 Upset Over #24 Virginia Tech In Blacksburg

2.23.13 | Baseball

Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va.— In what is the 85th season of Temple Baseball, no prior Owls' team may have gotten their first win of the season in a similar impressive fashion than what the 2013 sqaud did on Saturday. Facing the No. 24 Virginia Tech Hokies, the Owls proved to have rebounded from last weekend's 0-2 start, by upsetting the nationally-ranked Hokies, 7-3, at English Field.

For the Owls, it marks the third time that they have defeated a nationally-ranked opponent since 1996 and for the first time since 2008 when it defeated the No. 18 Charlotte 49ers (April 5, 2008) in their Atlantic 10 Conference opener that season.

Temple was led by two of its three players that share the same last name. Sophomore Eric Peterson pitched the final 3.1 innings and collected the win, while junior Derek Peterson went 3-for-5 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Virginia Tech's Jake Joyce was charged with the loss.

“We didn't just squeak by a team like this today, we beat them—and for that, I am extremely proud of all of our guys today,” second year head coach Ryan Wheeler said. “To beat a team as good as them this early shows the character of our ball club. Out there today was the team I have been envisioning since the fall and that team showed up for us today. The effort they gave today was a complete turnaround from what I saw in this team a week ago, so hopefully this is the one that points us in the right direction.”

Junior Derek Peterson, who transferred from Olney Central College, was the hero for the Owls on Saturday. With one out and sophomore Nick Lustrino at first and senior Jordan Queja at third, Peterson smashed a pitch from VT senior pitcher Jake Joyce for an RBI-base hit, which scored Queja to give the Owls a 3-2 lead. From that point on, the Hokies would never catch up, as the Owls ran up the score to a 5-2 advantage before the inning was over, courtesy of two more RBI-singles, which came off the bat of senior Henry Knabe and junior David Hall.

The Hokies claimed one the runs back in their eighth inning at-bat when Andrew Rash doubled off of sophomore right-hander Eric Peterson to score Tyler Horan, but the Owls put the nail in the coffin in the ninth by responding with two runs, building their lead to the inevitable 7-3 advantage on another single Peterson, which scored seniors Allen Stiles ad Queja.

After being walked three times last Friday at Delaware, Peterson, who scored twice and knocked in three, reached base three more times on Saturday, going 3-for-5 day at the plate against the Hokies' pitching staff.

Virginia Tech got off to a quick start, but it never held a lead larger than a single run. The Hokies looked as if they were going to give the Owls a lot to deal with, as they sent six men to the plate in the first inning. However, going up against senior Dan Moller, who was already making his second start of the season, found a way to stay composed.

Moller, who lasted 5.2 innings, got out of a long first inning with minimal damage, surrendering only a run, which came on Chad Pinder's RBI base-hit that scored Kit Schneider from second base.

Opposing Moller, VT junior Eddie Campbell proved to have impressive stuff on the mound from the onset. Throwing pitches in the low 90-mph speed range, he was sending the Owls back to the bench in frustration during first four innings. After issuing a leadoff walk to senior Jordan Queja in the first inning, Campbell retired the next 12 batters before walking senior Henry Knabe to start the fifth inning, which proved to be his worst mistake of the day.

With Knabe aboard, redshirt sophomore Connor Reilly set down a sacrifice bunt before freshman Jimmy Kerrigan moved Knabe to third base on a ground out. Standing 90 feet away from tying the game, Knabe crossed the dish when junior Andrew Nist ripped a single to take away the Hokies' only lead of the day.

When the Owls returned to the plate in the sixth inning, Derek Peterson got his three-hit day underway to start a rally. With redshirt senior Matt Elko up, Peterson advanced to second on a wild pitch to get himself into scoring position. Elko ripped a pitch from Campbell, sending Peterson all the way around for the go ahead run, which gave Temple a 2-1 lead.

Campbell would depart after the inning, finishing with a line that read two runs allowed on three hits while striking out five and walking two over his six innings of work.

Before Moller was able to leave the game in position to pick up his first victory of the season, the Hokies worked to get themselves back into the contest in a hurry. Sophomore Mark Zagunis got the rally started with a lead-off single, but was picked off while trying to steal second base. After Rash walked with two outs, Brendon Hayden smashed a pitch for a double, which tied the ballgame and ended Moller's day.

Wheeler handed the ball to sophomore Eric Peterson, who got the Owls out of the sixth inning. Peterson, Temple's first winning pitcher of the year, went on to pitch the final 3.1 innings and was lights out, as he limited Virginia Tech to just one run on three hits, while striking out two of the 12 batters he faced.

Temple, now 1-2 on the young season, will continue play on Virginia Tech's campus on Sunday when it faces Holy Cross in a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 a.m. Junior Matt Hockenberry will pitch game one and sophomore Patrick Peterson will take the hill for the second game of the split, which is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.