Baseball Looks To Get Back In A-10 Postseason Hunt; Hosts Charlotte For Three Games This Weekend

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AMBLER, Pa. - The five-game homestand continues for Temple (15-21, 5-10) this weekend, as it hosts the Charlotte 49ers (24-18, 8-4) for a three-game weekend Atlantic 10 Conference series. Temple split a pair of midweek contests earlier this week, beating Villanova on Tuesday and losing to George Mason Wednesday. For the Owls, it was the first time that they lost a non-conference game at Skip Wilson Field this season. With the 49ers in town for league play, the Owls will be looking to get back into postseason contention. Owning a 5-10 record in A-10 play, the Cherry and White sit in 11th place of the conference standings with nine league games remaining. Charlotte, who is this year's host for the A-10 Championship, will be trying to move closer toward clinching a spot in the tournament, as they stand in fourth place with an 8-4 record.

The series gets underway Friday at 3:00 p.m. at Skip Wilson Field and will continue Saturday with a 1:00 opening pitch before concluding Sunday at Noon. Live stats will be available for all three games and Saturday's game will be aired via webstream on OwlAccess. Links have been provided above.

Junior Derek Peterson moved into the team lead for hitting after putting together back-to-back 3-for-5 games in the Owls' two games this week. Peterson (.347) moved past senior Henry Knabe (.341), who has paced the team for the last few weeks. Senior Elijah Yarborough is carrying a hot bat after having just one hit in his first 12 games. The Owls' second baseman has five in the last two, giving him a batting average of .714 during the stretch. Yarborough got the Owls on the board in the seventh inning of Wednesday's game with a two-run home run.

Going at it on the mound for TU this weekend will be its usual suspects: Patrick Peterson (1-5), Eric Peterson (5-1) and Dan Moller (1-4). The Peterson twins are coming off losing decisions at Rhode Island last week. Patrick has been a victim of lack of run support over his last two outings, while Eric is looking for his five straight quality start and trying to avenge his first loss of the season. Moller looked sharp at URI last Sunday, as he allowed just two runs on six hits in 6.0 innings of work.

CHARLOTTE NOTES...
Charlotte enters play coming off a series win against Atlantic 10 conference opponent, Xavier, last weekend. During the week, the 49ers were also busy, as they played two midweek games, which they dropped at home to Presbyterian and on the road at No. 1 North Carolina.

Charlotte is sending out two right hand pitchers on the mound in the weekend set. Junior Tyler Barnette will get the opening game start before lefthanded senior John Hamilton will take the mound on Saturday, as the 49ers look toward clinching a spot in the A-10 Tournament. Barnette is 3-2 on the year with a 3.86 ERA in 65.1 innings pitched. The righty is second on the team in strikeouts (47) behind teammate Brock Hudgens who will be given the ball in the series finale. Hudgens was named A-10 Pitcher of the Week for the second straight week and is a perfect 4-0 this season with a team-low 3.10 ERA and team high 52 strikeouts.

On the offensive side of the ball, Charlotte is led by junior Justin Seager (.361) and sophomore Brad Elwood (.325). Both players are hitting over .320 this season and lead the team in hits with 56 and 53, respectively.

THE SERIES...

Temple is in search of its first-ever series win over the Charlotte 49ers, who lead the all-time sereis 4-11-0. The teams met last season at Skip Wilson Field, where Charlotte took two-of-three from the Owls. Temple won the middle game of the set to pick up its first A-10 win of the season and first under head coach Ryan Wheeler. The 49ers took the opener,10-1, and the finale by a narrow count of 3-2. The Owls have salvaged at least one win in every series against Charlotte. In addition to last season, TU defeated the 49ers in 2009 and in 2008- both at Skip Wilson Field. In 2008, Charlotte was ranked No. 18 in the nation.

This will be the final time the teams will meet as conference rivals, as Temple will join the American Athletic Conference and Charlotte will return to Conference USA after this season.

Temple University Athletics

Baseball Looks To Get Back In A-10 Postseason Hunt; Hosts Charlotte For Three Games This Weekend

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