Baseball Endures Doubleheader Sweep From UMass

Friday, May 17

Skip Wilson Field

12:00 p.m., 3:00 p.m.

Temple University

18-26, 5-17

Massachusetts

12-31, 7-15

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Massachusetts	0	0	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	4	10	2
Temple	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	3	7	2

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Massachusetts	3	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	6	16	0
Temple	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	9	1

Photo by: Mitchell Leff

Baseball Endures Doubleheader Sweep From UMass

5.17.13 | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

PHOTO GALLERY

Game 1: UMass 4 – Temple 3

W – Connor LeBlanc (2-6)
L – Patrick Peterson (2-7)
S – Jordan Pace (2)

Game 2: UMass 6 – Temple 3
W – Andrew Grant (3-7)
L— Eric Peterson (6-3)
S – Jordan Pace (3)

AMBLER, Pa. – Coming off a 12-day layoff, Temple was dealt a doubleheader sweep from the Massachusetts Minutemen on Friday afternoon at Skip Wilson Field. The Owls, who started sophomore twins Patrick and Eric Peterson, dropped games to the Minutemen by counts of 4-3 and 6-3, respectively. Temple will close out the program's 85th season and its last ever Atlantic 10 Conference series on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. Redshirt senior LHP Dan Moller will take the ball for the final time as a member of the Cherry and White and will be opposed by LHP Aaron Plunkett.

Prior to first pitch, Temple Athletics will honor the seven seniors on the team with the Senior Day ceremony. Fans should plan to arrive to Skip Wilson Field by 11:30 a.m.

Game 1: UMass 4 – Temple 3
Down 4-0 heading into the home half of the seventh inning, senior Henry Knabe got the offense going with the Owls' first hit since the second inning. Redshirt senior Matt Elko and junior Derek Peterson followed up with base hits of their own to push Knabe home for TU's first runs of the ballgame.

UMass starter Connor LeBlanc slowed the Owls' instant spark by getting freshman catcher Andrew Nist to fly out, but sophomore SS Nick Lustrino jammed the bases with an infield base hit.

Senior Elijah Yarborough skied a pitch out into right field, where it was dropped by the UMass fielder. Yarborough reached base on the error and Elko trotted home from third to narrow the gap a two-run game. Lustrino was thrown out at second base on the play.

Temple looked to continue to force its way back in the game in the eighth, as senior Allen Stiles led off the inning with a single, but would be later thrown out at third base try to steal.

In the ninth, Elko pounded out the game's first extra-base hit with a leadoff double. Making his first appearance in a game since April 19 at Rhode Island before he was hit by a pitch, senior Jordan Queja pinch ran for Elko. Back-to-back groundouts by Derek Peterson and Nist forced Queja in to make it a 4-3 game. The Owls would go down on a groundout by Lustrino.

UMass put the first two runs of the game on the board in the fourth inning after both starting pitchers worked through the opposing team's batting order one time each.

Nik Campero was the first of four straight two-out hits for the Minutemen off of starting LHP Patrick Peterson. Campero scored the first run on Kellen Pagel's hit and then extended the lead when Jeff Cavanaro knocked in Pagel on his base knock.

UMass would strike again and widen the gap when it came to the plate in the seventh inning. With Peterson still in the ballgame to start the frame, Cavanaro got the rally going with a leadoff infield base hit. Cavanaro later scored on a throwing error by senior Henry Knabe.

Peterson, who was charged with his seventh loss of the season, made his exit after getting Rich Graef to fly out for the second out of the inning. Redshirt sophomore Adam Dian and was greeted with a single from Rob McLam. Peterson's line closed with 6.2 IP through which he was only charged with two of the four runs scored on eight hits and a walk.

Game 2: UMass 6 – Temple 3
The Minutemen, who were coming off a win that snapped a six-game losing streak, carried over the momentum into the backend game of the twin bill.

With Temple's ace pitcher in sophomore Eric Peterson on the hill, UMass found ways to get to him quickly. Leadoff hitter Ryan Cusiclk was the first of five straight batters to get a hit off Peterson, allowing the Minutemen to jump out to a 3-0 before an out was recorded.

Elko got things going for Temple in the second inning when he led off the frame with a single. Derek Peterson followed by working 3-1 count for a walk. After freshman catcher Michael D'Acunti moved the runners on a sacrifice bunt, Lustrino came up with a big one-out double that scored both Elko and Peterson to make it a one-run game. With the game-tying run in scoring position, Lustrino took off for third and was caught stealing before Yarborough struck out to end the Owls' threat.

UMass responded by getting three straight hits with two outs in the third inning, Cavanaro's hit scored Campero to put the Minutemen back up by two.

Temple matched the Minutemen's third inning output. On what should have been the third out of the inning, freshman Jimmy Kerrigan struck out swinging, but reached base on the wild pitch to keep the inning alive for the Owls. TU made the most of it, as Knabe and Elko came up with a pair of singles, which allowed Kerrigan to come all the way around and make it a 4-3 game at that point.

The Minutemen went to the plate in the fifth and got three more hits off of Peterson, allowing them to score and go back up by two runs. Peterson's day came to a close after 4.2 IP. On the day the Owls' right-hander struck out three and served up 12 hits and a walk, which produced five runs.

UMass tacked on more run in the seventh off of junior Matt Hockenberry. After two straight hits to lead off the inning, Campero's fielder's choice allowed McLam to score and make it 6-3.