Philadelphia, PA - Head Coach Lee Saverio's La Salle University baseball squad dropped a heartbreaking 5-4 loss to the Temple University Owls today, Sunday, March 28, 2004.

The Explorers got on the scoreboard first as junior Phil Marino (Blackwood, NJ/Highland) tapped a sacrafice hit to the Temple short stop scoring fellow junior Ryan Parfit (Flourtown, PA/La Salle). Parfit finished the game 3-5 with one run.

The Owls answered right back in the tio of the second and scored two runs of their own to take the 2-1 lead. La Salle then tied the game up when sophomore Kevin McCarthy (Ambler, PA/Wissahicken) brought freshman Rich Prall (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks West) in for La Salle's second run of the game. Prall finished the game 2-4 with one run and one run batted in.

Temple would then take the lead in the third inning and the score remained 3-2 until the eighth inning when Prall hit a rocket to center field scoring both sophomore John Reifsnyder (Flourtown, PA/La Salle) and senior Scott Gehringer (Pennsburg, PA/Upper Perkiomen) to take the lead 4-3 heading into the final inning.

The Owls however answered once again as they scored two runs of their own in the top of the ninth and La Salle found themselves down one in the bottom of the ninth inning.

La Salle senior tri-captain John Snyder (Lititz, PA/Manheim Township) hit a single through the left side with two outs. Parfit then stepped to the plate and drove a double to center field. Snyder came charging around third to the home plate, but was called out and the Owls held on to win 5-4.

La Salle senior Eric Ruhland (Philadelphia, PA/Father Judge) started on the mound for the Explorers. He pitched in five and one third innings and struck out seven batters. Freshman Gerard Breslin (Havertown, PA/Havertown) came in at relief and pitched in the final three and two third innings.

La Salle falls to 0-3 in the conference and 12-7-1 overall. The Explorers will travel to the University of Pennsylvania this Tuesday, March 30th for a 3:00 p.m. single game and then to Villanova University on Wednesday the 31st, also a 3:00 p.m. start.