March 27, 2009
Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
AMBLER, PA - La Salle Baseball continues to battle with its Atlantic 10 Conference opponents, but just keeps coming up on the short end - this time losing 11-9 and 5-2 to the Temple Owls in doubleheader action at Skip Wilson Field on Friday afternoon.
The Explorers actually outhit the Owls in both games, 16-12 and 10-8, but they left 12 men on base in the first game opposed to Temple's five, and stranded nine to the Owls five, again, in game two.
GAME 1
After the Explorers took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a TJ Chism RBI single, Temple responded with six unanswered runs, including five in the bottom of the second to take control of the game.
Again it was Chism in the top of the third driving in a run to make it 6-2, but three more in the bottom of the frame by the Owls increased their lead to seven, as every batter in their lineup, to that point, had either an RBI or scored a run.
Chism scored a single run in the fifth and seventh innings - with Jon Gyles and Tony Negrin producing RBI singles - to bring the visitors to within 9-4. Meanwhile, Zach Huff was keeping the Owls off the scoreboard, as he threw five innings in relief and struck out six.
However, Sean Barksdale hit - which at the time seemed meaningless - a two RBI double to right center to put Temple back up seven in the bottom of the eight. Those two runs proved valuable at game's end.
The reason was the Explorers ninth-inning rally that sent 10 batters to the plate and ended with the tying run at first.
Marc Schoch singled home Chism to start the inning, Negrin also brought home a run, and then Brian Meagher blasted a three-run homer over the left field fence to make it 11-9.
Jeff Flax was hit by a pitch and Justin Handler singled to put runners on the corners, but Temple called in their closer - Matt Blackburn, who ended the inning with a grounder for his second save of the season.
GAME 2
Temple (10-11, 5-0 A-10) took a 4-0 lead as Lenny DelGrippo drove in a pair with a double in the second. The Owls then got an unearned run in the third and Byron McKoy hit a solo home run in the sixth.
La Salle tallied its only two runs of the game in the top of the seventh to cut its deficit in half on a two-out two-RBI single up the middle by Handler - scoring Meagher and Gyles.
Temple added an insurance run in the eighth, which this time was not needed, even though the Explorers had runners on the corners when the game ended in the ninth.
La Salle (9-12, 0-5 A-10) will complete the three-game A-10 series with the Owls on Saturday with a start time of 1 PM.
