Temple University Athletics
Friday, March 7
Philadelphia, Pa. - John W. Smithson Field
10:45 a.m.
Temple University
vs
Niagara University
Photo by: Mitchell Leff
Baseball Set to Play in Big 5 Baseball Bash
3.6.14 | Baseball
Live Stats | Live Audio
AMBLER, Pa. — Temple (1-7) will kick off a weekend three-game series against three opponents, as the Owls will face Niagara on Friday at 10:45 a.m., Villanova at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday and Saint Joseph's on Sunday at 2:45 p.m. Temple was originally scheduled to play Niagara, Iona and Central Connecticut State to open up home play for the 2014 season, but weather earlier this week forced schedule changes and now Temple will take on two Big Five foes as well as Niagara. All three games will be played at Saint Joseph's, as the four teams will rotate playing each other this weekend. Temple will be the home team on Friday and away team on Saturday and Sunday.
Five players have started every game for the Owls this season with seniors leading the way. Redshirt Senior Dragos has the highest batting average (.375) of the five players and has also drawn eight walks for a .529 on-base percentage. Senior Robert Amaro, a transfer from Virginia and nephew of Phillies GM Rueben Amaro, has hit .355 with four doubles, one homerun and nine RBI to lead the team in slugging percentage (.581). Amaro was named the Big Five Player of the Week after his performance in the season-opening series against Rider and UMass-Lowell.
Senior and co-captain Matt Hockenberry has been the number one starter for the Owls. He has a 1-0 record with a 3.86 ERA and has averaged 4.6 strikeouts per nine innings while only walking one. Simon Mathews has come in as a freshman and served as the number two starter with senior Preston Hill as the third starter. Senior and co-captain Ryan Kuehn has been a key arm out of the bullpen with a 3.86 ERA and only allowing two hits to 14 batters that have faced him.
ABOUT NIAGARA…
The Purple Eagles come into this weekend with a 4-7 record. They began the season at No. 2 Florida State with three losses and have played .500 ball since. Niagara is in the middle of a 24 game span of games being played away from home.
Anthony Firenzi and Pavel Chavez-Rusova are tied for the team lead with hitting averages of .286. Firenzi has five extra base hits (two doubles, one triple and two home runs). Greg Rodgers has hit .250 on the season but five of his nine hits have been for doubles. Drew Fittry, Jordan Schwartz and Liam Stroud are the expected starters for this weekend. Fittry leads the starters with a 3.63 ERA with a 1-1 record and hitters are only batting .238 against him, a pitching staff best. Jordan Schwartz is 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA while Stroud is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH NIAGARA…
'
The Owls have played Niagara four times, with the first game played in 1976. Temple won the last game played in 2010 12-9 at home.
ABOUT VILLANOVA…
Villanova (2-9) enters the weekend on a five game losing streak, losing all three games in the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. and two games to No. 16 Miami. The first game against Miami on Tuesday the Wildcats lost 17-0 as Miami pitcher Javi Salas threw a perfect game that included six strikeouts.
Kevin Jewitt leads the Wildcats with a .395 hitting average with five total hits. Todd Czinenge is the only other player to hit over .300 with a .302 average. Connor Jones has hit one double, two triples and one homerun to lead the Wild cats with a .500 slugging percentage and also leads the team in walks (8). The Wildcats have primarily used Max Almonte, Josh Harris and JB Kole as the weekend starters. Almonte is 1-0 with an ERA of 4.32, three strikeouts and six walks. Harris is 0-3 with an ERA of 4.32 as well. He has eight strikeouts and four walks. Kole is 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA, and hitters have batted .370 against him in 10 innings pitched.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH VILLANOVA...
Villanova holds the lead in the series 59-54. The Owls defeated the Wildcats twice last year, winning 8-4 at home and 7-6 at Villanova.
ABOUT SAINT JOSEPH'S…
The Hawks (3-3) will start home play as the hosts of all six games this weekend. Much like Temple, Saint Joseph's schedule has been greatly affected by the weather as the first four games of the season were cancelled. Saint Joseph's is on a two game-winning streak, beating Gardner-Webb 5-4 and High Point 4-1 in the Elon Invitational.
The Hawks have two hitters above a .300 hitting average. Brian O'Keefe leads the team with a .346 average and nine hits. Christ Hueth has hit .320 with eight singles. Daniel Thorpe and Jordan Carter lead the team with two starts. Thorpe has allowed 10 hits in 11 innings pitched with seven strikeouts and two walks. Carter has one win and loss in his two starts. He has nine strikeouts, five walks, and has not allowed an extra base hit besides a home run.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH SAINT JOSEPH'S...
Temple holds a commanding lead with a record of 108-52-2 over Saint Joseph's. Saint Joseph's took two of three against Temple last year.
UP NEXT...
From here, Temple will go back on the road to face Rider on Tuesday and Lafayette on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.
AMBLER, Pa. — Temple (1-7) will kick off a weekend three-game series against three opponents, as the Owls will face Niagara on Friday at 10:45 a.m., Villanova at 2:45 p.m. on Saturday and Saint Joseph's on Sunday at 2:45 p.m. Temple was originally scheduled to play Niagara, Iona and Central Connecticut State to open up home play for the 2014 season, but weather earlier this week forced schedule changes and now Temple will take on two Big Five foes as well as Niagara. All three games will be played at Saint Joseph's, as the four teams will rotate playing each other this weekend. Temple will be the home team on Friday and away team on Saturday and Sunday.
Five players have started every game for the Owls this season with seniors leading the way. Redshirt Senior Dragos has the highest batting average (.375) of the five players and has also drawn eight walks for a .529 on-base percentage. Senior Robert Amaro, a transfer from Virginia and nephew of Phillies GM Rueben Amaro, has hit .355 with four doubles, one homerun and nine RBI to lead the team in slugging percentage (.581). Amaro was named the Big Five Player of the Week after his performance in the season-opening series against Rider and UMass-Lowell.
Senior and co-captain Matt Hockenberry has been the number one starter for the Owls. He has a 1-0 record with a 3.86 ERA and has averaged 4.6 strikeouts per nine innings while only walking one. Simon Mathews has come in as a freshman and served as the number two starter with senior Preston Hill as the third starter. Senior and co-captain Ryan Kuehn has been a key arm out of the bullpen with a 3.86 ERA and only allowing two hits to 14 batters that have faced him.
ABOUT NIAGARA…
The Purple Eagles come into this weekend with a 4-7 record. They began the season at No. 2 Florida State with three losses and have played .500 ball since. Niagara is in the middle of a 24 game span of games being played away from home.
Anthony Firenzi and Pavel Chavez-Rusova are tied for the team lead with hitting averages of .286. Firenzi has five extra base hits (two doubles, one triple and two home runs). Greg Rodgers has hit .250 on the season but five of his nine hits have been for doubles. Drew Fittry, Jordan Schwartz and Liam Stroud are the expected starters for this weekend. Fittry leads the starters with a 3.63 ERA with a 1-1 record and hitters are only batting .238 against him, a pitching staff best. Jordan Schwartz is 1-2 with a 4.91 ERA while Stroud is 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH NIAGARA…
'
The Owls have played Niagara four times, with the first game played in 1976. Temple won the last game played in 2010 12-9 at home.
ABOUT VILLANOVA…
Villanova (2-9) enters the weekend on a five game losing streak, losing all three games in the Snowbird Baseball Classic in Port Charlotte, Fla. and two games to No. 16 Miami. The first game against Miami on Tuesday the Wildcats lost 17-0 as Miami pitcher Javi Salas threw a perfect game that included six strikeouts.
Kevin Jewitt leads the Wildcats with a .395 hitting average with five total hits. Todd Czinenge is the only other player to hit over .300 with a .302 average. Connor Jones has hit one double, two triples and one homerun to lead the Wild cats with a .500 slugging percentage and also leads the team in walks (8). The Wildcats have primarily used Max Almonte, Josh Harris and JB Kole as the weekend starters. Almonte is 1-0 with an ERA of 4.32, three strikeouts and six walks. Harris is 0-3 with an ERA of 4.32 as well. He has eight strikeouts and four walks. Kole is 0-2 with a 10.80 ERA, and hitters have batted .370 against him in 10 innings pitched.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH VILLANOVA...
Villanova holds the lead in the series 59-54. The Owls defeated the Wildcats twice last year, winning 8-4 at home and 7-6 at Villanova.
ABOUT SAINT JOSEPH'S…
The Hawks (3-3) will start home play as the hosts of all six games this weekend. Much like Temple, Saint Joseph's schedule has been greatly affected by the weather as the first four games of the season were cancelled. Saint Joseph's is on a two game-winning streak, beating Gardner-Webb 5-4 and High Point 4-1 in the Elon Invitational.
The Hawks have two hitters above a .300 hitting average. Brian O'Keefe leads the team with a .346 average and nine hits. Christ Hueth has hit .320 with eight singles. Daniel Thorpe and Jordan Carter lead the team with two starts. Thorpe has allowed 10 hits in 11 innings pitched with seven strikeouts and two walks. Carter has one win and loss in his two starts. He has nine strikeouts, five walks, and has not allowed an extra base hit besides a home run.
ALL-TIME SERIES WITH SAINT JOSEPH'S...
Temple holds a commanding lead with a record of 108-52-2 over Saint Joseph's. Saint Joseph's took two of three against Temple last year.
UP NEXT...
From here, Temple will go back on the road to face Rider on Tuesday and Lafayette on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m.
Ep. 10: Temple Homecoming Preview; Volleyball Assistant Coach Taylor Davenport
Tuesday, October 07
Ep. 9: Head Women's Soccer Coach Chris Shaw
Friday, October 03
Ep. 8: Temple Athletics Weekly Recap; Women's Cross Country Runner Amelia Sabatino
Tuesday, September 30
Ep. 7: Temple Field Hockey Alumna Cherifa Howarth
Friday, September 26
