March 21, 2013

MERION STATION, Pa. - The Saint Joseph's baseball team begins its conference slate on Friday as the Hawks travel to Ambler for a three-game weekend set against Temple at Skip Wilson Field.

Both teams enter the weekend on a high note; the Hawks just wrapped up a 6-1 homestand, while the Owls have won four straight.

Saint Joseph's (8-11) is 50-106-2 all-time against Temple, but the Hawks have had the better of their crosstown rivals recently, winning five straight games against the Owls and seven of the last eight.

Senior Anthony Cirillo paces the Hawks with a .360 batting average, and ranks among the team leaders in runs scored (T-2nd, 13), runs batted in (T-2nd, 10), walks (2nd, nine), stolen bases (T-1st, five), and slugging percentage (3rd, .440). Cirillo also leads SJU in on-base percentage (.535) and has been hit by a pitch a team-high 11 times.

Senior Quinn Renner and junior Mike Muha lead Saint Joseph's with two home runs apiece, while Renner's 12 RBI are tops on the squad. He recorded nine of those RBI this past week on his way to Philadelphia Big 5 Baseball Player of the Week honors.

The Hawk pitching staff has picked up where it left off in 2012, posting a 3.35 earned run average over 161.1 innings. Junior lefthander Steven Schuler has appeared in 10 of 19 games with a 0.75 earned run average to lead the SJU bullpen. At the backend, junior Jimmy Yacabonis has notched three saves with a 0.93 earned run average in eight appearances.

Senior Kyle Mullen, junior Daniel Thorpe, and sophomore James Harrity have each earned a pair of wins on the year. Thorpe leads the Hawks with 26 strikeouts, while Mullen has notched 24 on the season.

Mullen currently sits second in school history with 211 strikeouts; the record, held by John Butz, is 212.

Henry Knabe leads the way for Temple (7-9) with a .414 batting average in 14 games. He ranks second on the squad with 13 RBI and fourth with 10 runs scored. Derek Peterson is the Owls' leader in runs scored with 16, home runs with 2, and RBI with 15.

The Owls are a threat on the basepaths as well, as four players have stolen at least four bases; Knabe leads TU with nine steals, while Jordan Queja has swiped eight.

On the mound, the Owls have a team earned run average of 4.92. The Temple starting staff is led by Eric Peterson and his 2-0 record and 2.55 earned run average. Patrick Peterson is TU's leader in strikeouts with 18, while Preston Hill and Ryan Kuehn have each notched a save.

The series gets underway at Skip Wilson Field on Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. Saturday's game is set for 1:00 p.m., while the series finale will begin at noon. Live stats will be available at SJUHawks.com.