Baseball Pounded In 12-4 Loss To Old Dominion

Saturday, March 2

Norfolk, VA

2:00 p.m.

Temple University

2-5

Old Dominion

5-3

Temple

OLD DOMINION

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Baseball Pounded In 12-4 Loss To Old Dominion

3.2.13 | Baseball

Box Score

NORFOLK, Va.— Temple could not stop Old Dominion's hot bats Saturday, as it was victimized with a 12-4 loss at the Bud Metheny Complex. The Monarchs scored runs in bunches in three separate innings and the Owls struggled to stop the bleeding.

Making his second start of the season, junior Matt Hockenberry was tagged for six of ODU's runs over his 3.2 innings of work. The Owls' righty struck out two hitters, issued a walk and gave up eight runs.

Sophomore Nick Lustrono, Temple's leading hitter this season (.522) went 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored, while junior Derek Peterson drove in two runs in his 2-for-3 day.

The Owls looked as if they were going to get a quick jump on the Monarchs. In the first inning, Lustrino looped a single with one out and Peterson followed with a base hit of his own to start a threat, but a double play ground out by senior Henry Knabe allowed ODU pitcher Ryan Yarbrough to get out of the jam.

ODU went to the bottom of the frame and set the tone for the game. After getting its first two men on base, Josh Eldridge delivered the big blow with a three-run home run.

Austin McGowan, who singled before coming home on Eldridge's three-run dinger, hurt the Owls Saturday, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a pair knocked in.

Temple would work its way back into the ballgame in its half of the third, making it a one-run contest. With senior Jordan Queja aboard, Lustrino ripped a triple down the right field line to get the Owls on the board. Peterson then came to the plate to narrow the gap to a 3-2 margin when he singled to score Lustrino.

The Monarchs put a large distance between themselves and the Owls, exploding for five runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning. Chasing Hockenberry out of the game, redshirt senior Steve Visnic came on in relief, but found ways to beat him as well. Visnic pitched the rest of the fourth and then fifth inning, in which he gave up two runs on three hits.

Before the Owls could get back on the board, the Monarchs rung up freshman Connor Staskey for four more runs in the seventh inning to boost their lead to 10 runs.

Trailing 12-2, Temple began the eighth inning looking to make a rally, as each of its first three hitters reached base. With the bases loaded for Peterson, he picked up his second RBI on the day with a sacrifice fly to right. The Owls' last run came on a wild pitch, which allowed Lustrino to cross home, during Knabe's at bat.

Freshman Tim McCarthy then came out of the bullpen to pitch a no-hit, no-run eighth inning for the Owls.

Temple, now 2-5 in 2013, will meet Old Dominion (5-3) at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday at Bud Metheny Complex, where it will look to salvage a victory in the weekend series.