May 5, 2004
Box Score
EASTON, Pa. (www.lafayette.edu) - Temple scored three runs in the top of the eighth to hang of for a 14-11 win over Lafayette on Wednesday at the Class of 1978 Stadium. The game was highlighted by 25 runs and 30 hits between the two teams but marred by a 32-minute delay for thunder and lightning.
Lafayette got off to a slow starting in the first inning, as Lafayette starter Ted Gjeldum surrendered four runs. The Leopards gave up on error on the first play of the inning, allowing Justin Cooper to reach base. After a Mike Weckenman (3-for-5, 3 RBI) single moved Cooper into scoring position. The third batter of the inning, Jason Connor, doubled Cooper home to give Temple a 1-0 lead. Al Roach, Pete Colon and Nick Fasano all connected for RBI-singles to give the Owls a 4-0 lead.
Lafayette showed some signs of life in the bottom of the second. The Leopards started off the inning with three straight hits, the final a run-scoring single from Frank Cortazar. Lafayette added another run on Brian Astry's sac fly to cut the Temple lead to 4-2.
Don Smith threw two solid innings in relief of Gjeldum. He retired the Temple lineup in order in the second and third innings. In the bottom of the third inning, Lafayette struck for five runs to take the lead. With two outs in the inning and runners on first and third, Adam Bucci hit a ball to Temple second baseman Cooper who bobbled it and allowed Bucci to reach first and Rodgers to score to make it 4-3. A wild pitch to the next batter put runners on second and third and Temple chose to intentionally walk the bases loaded. The next batter Matt Skellan smashed a ball over the leftfield fence and gave Lafayette a 7-4 lead on his first collegiate grand slam.
Lafayette added three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Temple starter Tim Foulkrod was lifted to start the fourth inning in favor of Justin Mendek. Mendek issued a lead-off walk to Jeff Rodgers which brought Ian Law to the plate. Law got the job done, going opposite field for his third home run of the season. Mendek walked the next batter, Jason Boyd, and Temple again went to the bullpen to bring in Josiah Platchek. He surrendered a double to Adam Rosenberg on a hanging breaking ball to give Lafayette a seemingly solid 10-4 lead.
In the back-and-forth game, Temple began to cut into the lead in the fifth inning. The Leopards were again bitten by the error bug to lead off the inning. With a runner aboard thanks to the error, Weckenman homered to left center. The home run prompted Head Coach Joe Kinney to bring in Hank Fichtner. Fichtner allowed an RBI-single to Colon before ending the inning with Lafayette leading 10-7.
Temple tied the game with three runs in the top of the seventh. Brandon Ripley made his fourth appearance of the season, giving up two singles to start the inning. Kinney made the call to the bullpen and brought in Matt Kamine who surrendered a three-run home run to the next batter, John Quigley, to tie the game at 10-10. The seventh inning featured a 32-minute thunder and lightning delay.
In the eighth inning, Temple scored three more runs off Lafayette reliever Drew Moyer. Temple led off the inning with three straight hits, the final a double coming from Quigley who knocked in Roach (single) for the go-ahead run. With runners on first and third and no outs, Mike Brown contributed a sacrifice fly to give Temple a 12-10 advantage. The Owls added another run on consecutive wild pitches to lead 13-10.
The Leopards scratched out a run in the bottom of the eighth. Rodgers led off with a single. A Boyd rocket off the third base bag put runners on second and third and one out. Adam Rosenberg lifted a bloop single that fell in front of the centerfielder Quigley who decoyed Boyd into thinking that he was going to be able to catch the ball. When the ball fell in front of Quigley, Boyd broke for third and was gunned down for the second out of the inning. Temple reliever Chris Kurtz, one of three weekend starters used by Temple in the game, ended the inning with a strikeout.
Temple added an insurance run in the visitor ninth on Weckenman's second home run of the game. Freshman Brian Astry, who played leftfield the entire game, made his first collegiate pitching appearance and retired the rest of the Temple lineup.
In the last of the ninth, The College Hill Nine did not go down without a fight. With two outs in the inning, Kurtz gave up two walks and a single to load the bases. Law, who had homered previously in the game, popped up to the end the marathon game just a shade under four hours.
Kurtz (5-2) got the win, throwing three innings while allowing one run on four hits. Moyer (0-2) was handed his second decision of the season, after throwing one inning and allowing four runs on four hits.
Lafayette returns to action on Saturday in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament. The No. 2 seed Leopards play No. 3 seed Lehigh on Saturday for the right to play No. 1 seed Army in a three-game series. The first pitch at Army's Doubleday Field is scheduled for noon on Saturday.
