Baseball Heads to Clearwater for Inaugural American Championship

GAMENOTES IN PDF | LIVE STATS

WATCH: Houston | UCF | UCONN

2014 American Athletic Conference Championship
Bright House Field (8,500) t Clearwater, Fla.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014 at 3 p.m. [ADN]
#6 Seed Temple (14-30) vs. #3 Seed Houston (41-14)

Thursday, May 22, 2014 at 7 p.m. [ADN]
#6 Seed Temple vs. #2 Seed UCF (34-22)

Saturday, May 24, 2014 at 11 a.m. [ADN]
#6 Seed Temple vs. #7 Seed Connecticut (26-29)

Sunday, May 25, 2014 at Noon [ESPNU]
CHAMPIONSHIP

FIRST PITCH
Temple heads to postseason play as the sixth seed in Pool B in the inaugural American Athletic Baseball Championship at Bright House Field in Clearwater, Fla.

On Wednesday, May 21, the Owls open with No. 3 seed Houston at 3 p.m. On Thursday, May 22, Temple faces No. 2 seed UCF at 7 p.m. TU closes pool play on Saturday, May 24 at 11 a.m. against No. 7 seed Connecticut. All pool play games will be broadcast online by the American Digital Network.

The winners from Pool A and Pool B will meet in the championship game on Sunday, May 25. ESPNU will televise the championship game live at Noon.

The champion receives the conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

SCOUTING TEMPLE
The Owls, under third-year head coach Ryan Wheeler, stand 14-30 overall and 9-14 in American Athletic Conference play.

After 44 games, senior 1B Robert Amaro is the Owls' leading hitter with a .329 batting average. He has 24 runs, a team-best 55 hits, three home runs, and a team-best 38 RBI in 44 starts. A starter in all 44 games, sophomore OF Jimmy Kerrigan (.298) follows with 14 runs on 48 hits and 15 RBI. Senior 3B Derek Peterson (.278) has scored a team-best 31 runs on 47 hits with a team-leading 23 doubles. Senior OF Bobby Heitzman (.227) has scored 14 runs on 20 hits and has eight doubles, a triple, and 14 RBI.

On the mound, senior RHP Matt Hockenberry (3.48 ERA) sports a 5-5 record in 85.1 innings pitched, the most of any Owl. He's fanned 65 batters and walked 21. Redshirt senior RHP Ryan Kuehn (3.72 ERA) has pitched in 14 contests with nine starts. He has fanned 22 batters and walked 18. Freshman RHP Patrick Vanderslice (6.18 ERA) has appeared in 16 games with six starts. He's struck out 23 batters and walked 15.

A RETURN TO POSTSEASON PLAY
Temple returns to postseason play in 2014 for the first time since 2008 when the Owls participated in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament.

Since 1960, Temple has advanced to conference postseason play 21 times (1972, 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2008, 2014).

TU has also played in the NCAA Championship 14 times with two trips (1972 and 1977) to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.

UPSET CITY
Temple's final two series of the regular season were against nationally ranked opponents, and the Owls claimed an upset against each American opponent.

On May 10, the Owls claimed a 4-2 upset victory over No. 5 Louisville at Campbell's Field, their first of the 2014 season.

On May 16, TU notched another upset— a 4-1 victory over No. 16 Houston at Campbell's Field.

TU's previous upset of a nationally ranked foe came during the 2013 season when TU claimed a 7-3 win at No. 24 Virginia Tech (Feb. 23, 2013).

Previously the Owls' last upset of a Top 10 team(s) came during the 1972 College World Series. Temple, which finished the season nationally ranked No. 3 behind national champion USC and runner-up Arizona State, beat Connecticut and Iowa in world series play. The Huskies finished the season ranked No. 6, while the Hawkeyes were No. 7.

OWL NOTES & TRENDS
•   Temple stands fourth in the American in triples (12) and first in least home runs allowed (9).
•   Three Owls— Robert Amaro, Jimmy Kerrigan, and Derek Peterson— have started every game this season.
•   Senior Matt Hockenberry has been the Owls' No. 1 pitcher all season. In the American Athletic Conference, he is ranked No. 3 in strikeouts looking (24), No. 8 in strikeouts (65), and No. 10 in innings pitched (85.1). Hockenberry is tied for first in home runs allowed (0).
•   R-junior Zach Batchelor is TU's top reliever. He is now tied for seventh in career saves for Temple with six. He is also tied for fourth of the season record for saves. Batchelor is tied for ninth in the conference in saves (4).
•   Senior IF Derek Peterson ranks No. 1 in the American and No. 3 nationally in doubles (23). His 23 doubles tie the single-season record, set by Steve Nikorak in 2011.
•   In the American senior Robert Amaro is No. 7 in RBI (38) and No. 5 in putouts (392).
•   Sophomore C Michael D'Acunti's home run against in game 3 against No. 5 Louisville was Temple's first home run at Campbell's Field.
•   The Owls' upset of No. 5 Louisville on May 10 was the 50th career win for head coach Ryan Wheeler.
•   Temple played its first home game of the 2014 season on April 1 vs. Delaware.
•   Mother Nature has not been kind to Temple this spring, cancelling or postponing
   all home games until April 1. Overall, a total of 19 games have been cancelled or rescheduled.
•   TU opened American Athletic Conference play at Memphis, capturing two wins.
•   The Owls hosted Cincinnati in their first American Athletic Conference home games, claiming two victories.
•   Temple's final game at Skip Wilson Field was against No. 5 Louisville on May 9.
•   Senior Robert Amaro is the nephew of Philadelphia Phillies' general manager Ruben Amaro.
•   Four conference schools— Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, and Memphis are first-time opponents.

UP NEXT
The American Athletic Conference champion receives the conference's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

Temple University Athletics

Baseball Heads to Clearwater for Inaugural American Championship

Related News

Next Event

Related Videos