Spiders Complete Series Sweep Of Owls On Saturday :: Junior Devon Swope had four hits and knocked in four runs on the day

April 14, 2007

RICHMOND, VA - Richmond took advantage of a shaky Temple defense and completed the series sweep with a pair of victories on Saturday at Pitt Field. The Spiders scored four runs off three errors in the fifth inning of the first game and held on for a 4-3 victory. In the second, UR plated seven runs in the first inning and coasted to a 15-6 win. Junior Devon Swope had four hits, including a double and triple, and knocked in four runs on the day for the Owls.

In game one, Temple got on the board with a pair of runs in its first two at-bats. A sacrifice fly by junior Ryan Weber, who had a team-high five hits on the day, drove in junior Stan Orzechowski, who walked to open the game. Senior Dan Brady launched his fifth homerun of the season in the second over the centerfield fence to put the visitors up 2-0.

Junior Tom Dolan, the reigning Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week, cruised through four scoreless innings, striking out six of the first nine batters he faced. He ran into trouble in the fifth, as three TU errors helped the Spiders score four runs, two of which were unearned. After a Matt McKenna double to lead off the inning, Temple botched a sacrifice bunt by Austin Reilly to put runners on the corners.

A cue shot to first was misplayed, allowing McKenna to cross the plate, and Benji Marshall then singled home Reilly to tie the score. Joe Mahoney, who had two homers on Friday, then hit a two-run single to give the hosts a 4-2 advantage.

The Owls did little to threaten Richmond (22-14, 10-2 A-10) starter Alex Hale, advancing just one batter past first base after the third, but made some noise in the ninth. Weber singled to chase Hale for closer Brian Alas. The side-armer retired the next two batters before Swope ripped a RBI double to make the score 4-3. But Alas got the last out for his league-leading tenth save of the year.

Dolan (4-3) suffered the loss after allowing two earned runs in 6.2 innings, while striking out eight. Hale (5-2) was the victor and allowed three earned runs in eight frames.

The nightcap got off on the wrong foot for Temple (11-21, 4-8 A-10), as Richmond scored seven runs in the first inning and never looked back in completing the series sweep. Five hits, three walks, and an error allowed the Spiders to send 11 batters to the plate in the first. UR added an unearned run in the second off a pair of errors, one in the fourth, two in the sixth and four in the seventh to plate 15 or more runs for the third time this season.

Despite putting up six runs, the Owls left 15 runners on base, including ten in the last five innings. The Cherry and White did score two runs in the second on a RBI single by freshman Matt Heltz and a fielder's choice by sophomore Kyle Obal. Swope's three-run triple in the seventh and a groundout by sophomore Steve Mury accounted for the only other TU runs.

Sophomore Jamie Abercrombie had three-hits in the nightcap, including two doubles. Weber and Swope also had three safeties. Sophomore Matt Mongiardini (2-5) suffered the loss after allowing six earned runs in two innings.

TU made nine errors on the day, including a season-high five in game one. After not making an error in three games at Dayton, the Owls committed 18 errors in their past five games.

Josh Horn (3-2) gave up four earned runs in six innings for the win. Marshall had five hits, while McKenna had three doubles and drove in four runs.

Temple remained winless (0-10) against Richmond since the Spiders joined the Atlantic 10 Conference in 2002.

The Owls, who have lost four straight, will look to get back on track on Tuesday against Delaware at Skip Wilson Field. It marks the beginning of a five-game home-stand and a stretch of nine of ten games at home.