After losing 10 straight games down south, the Temple Owls baseball team won its second straight since returning north by defeating Maryland-Eastern Shore, 8-4, down in Princess Anne, Maryland on Wednesday afternoon.
Locked in a 4-4 battle heading into the eighth inning, the Owls scored four times off reliever Robert Benak (0-1) to secure the victory. Sophomore Chris Hamilton (Philadelphia,Pa/Germantown) came on in relief of starter Tim Foulkrod (Cheltenham, Pa/Cheltenham) and pitched 4.1 innings of scoreless relief to gain his first victory (1-0) of the season.
The Owls pounded out 12 hits, including three by freshman Mike Silverman (Owings Mills, Md/McDonogh) who had two singles and a home run with two runs batted in. Catcher Jeff Roma (Endicott, NY/Union-Endicott) also homered for the Owls.
Temple broke the game open in the visitors eighth. Al Roach (Medford, NJ/Shawnee), the hero of Tuesday's win against Bucknell, led off with a single. John Quigley (Bensalem, PA/Bensalem) followed with a single to left. Following a fielders choice, Fred Hilliard (Broomall, Pa/Upper Darby) then doubled in two runs and scored on a double by Mike Weckenman (Newtown, Pa/Council Rock). The Owls completed the scoring as Jason Connor (Norristown, Pa/Kennedy Kendrick) grounded out to plate Weckenman.
The Owls will now begin Atlantic 10 play this weekend when they travel to Richmond to take on the nationally ranked Spiders beginning with a doubleheader on Saturday at 12 Noon.
