March 23, 2013

Box Score

AMBLER, Pa. - Trailing by four runs entering the seventh, the Hawk offense responded with nine runs over the final four innings as the Saint Joseph's baseball team defeated Temple, 10-6, in 10 innings on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon at Skip Wilson Field.

Greg Kumpel hit a two-run double in the top of the 10th before John Brue followed with his first collegiate home run to give the Hawks a pair of insurance runs.

Temple (7-11 overall, 0-2 Atlantic 10) jumped out to an early 3-0 lead for the second day in a row as David Hall lofted a two-run home run to right and Nick Lustrino added a run-scoring single off of Jordan Carter in the bottom of the second inning.

TU starter Eric Peterson held the Hawks without a hit until the fifth inning, but Saint Joseph's (10-11 overall, 2-0 Atlantic 10) finally broke through in the top of the sixth as Kevin Kratochwill led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error. After moving to third on a wild pitch, Kratochwill came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Mike Muha.

The Owls answered right away, pushing the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the frame on a triple by Allen Stiles and a single by Hall.

The Hawks hung a three-spot on the board in the seventh to get back within a run. With two outs and runners at the corners, Quinn Renner ripped a double to left center to score Kumpel before Kratochwill singled to right to score Anthony Cirillo and Renner, making it a 5-4 game.

A double by Derek Peterson pushed Temple's lead to 6-4, but SJU responded with a pair in the top of the eighth. After Connor Staskey walked the bases loaded with one out, a wild pitch by Ryan Kuehn brought Chris Hueth home before Cirillo's sacrifice fly plated Kumpel and tied the game at 6-6.

Temple threatened in the ninth, putting runners on second and third with two down, but Jimmy Yacabonis induced a groundball out of Matt Elko to send the game to extra innings.

SJU wasted no time in the extra frame as Brian O'Keefe led off with a single and Hueth followed with a double to bring Kumpel to the plate. The senior doubled to deep center, giving the Hawks their first lead of the game, before Brue launched a home run well over the fence in right field to put SJU on top, 10-6.

Yacabonis issued a one-out walk to Hall in the bottom half, but a fly ball and a grounder back to the mound ended the game.

Yacabonis earned the win, his first decision of the season, with three innings of one-hit relief. Kuehn took the loss to fall to 1-1 after allowing four runs on four hits in two and two-thirds innings.

Carter allowed four runs on four hits in five and a third, while Peterson was charged with four runs on five hits, fanning eight, in six and two-thirds.

The teams will wrap up the series on Sunday afternoon. First pitch at Skip Wilson Field is set for noon.