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HAWKS SPLIT WITH TEMPLE NOT ENOUGH TO STAVE OFF PLAYOFF ELIMINATION
PHILADELPHIA (5/11/02) -- For the second straight weekend, the Saint Joseph's baseball team received stellar starting pitching from senior Mike Minerva and sophomore
PHILADELPHIA (5/11/02) -- For the second straight weekend, the Saint Joseph's baseball team received stellar starting pitching from senior Mike Minerva and sophomore Bill McCollum, but it was only enough to muster a doubleheader split with Temple at Erny Field. The Owls took game one 3-2, officially eliminating SJU from the Atlantic 10 postseason chase, while the Crimson and Gray captured the second game, 7-3. SJU now stands at 15-36-1 overall, 9-14 in the A-10. Temple, which clinched a postseason berth with the game one win, is 20-25, 11-12 A-10.
Minerva, who tossed his fifth straight complete game, once again was a tough luck loser for the Hawks. The senior righthander surrendered just four hits and a pair of earned runs, but watched his record fall to 4-8 overall.
SJU outhit Temple in the first game, 8-4, but some poor base running decisions helped to run the Hawks out of a couple potential rallies. Trailing 3-1 entering the sixth inning, McCollum singled and then scored on a double by senior Justin Godusky to make it a one run game, 3-2. Godusky, however was gunned down at third base trying to stretch his two-bagger into a triple. The Hawks would get a couple of more runners on in the inning, but could not plate a run.
McCollum and Godusky (2 RBI) each notched a pair of hits for the Hawks in the opener.
In game two, McCollum gutted out 5.2 innings to earn his team-leading fifth win of the season against four defeats. The crafty lefthander walked five and struckout four, while surrendering just three hits. Sophomore Erik Holman tossed the final 1.1 innings to register his first collegiate save.
A four-run sixth inning broke open a 3-3 tien and powered SJU to the win, 7-3. The inning began simply with Godusky being hit by a pitch. After junior Mike Walls bounced into a fielder's choice, fellow junior John Kokol doubled to left center, plating Walls. Kokol advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a double by sophomore Jason Tarewicz. Following a Temple pitching change, junior Jim Kelly singled to put runners at the corners. A single by junior Mike DeLorenzo and a double by junior Kevin Dougher closed out the scoring.
Walls and Kokol each had three hits in game two for SJU. Kokol and Tarewicz each had two RBI.
SJU and Temple will wrap up the regular season and conclude their three game series with a single nine inning game tomorrow at noon.
NOTES: The Loss by the Crimson and Gray in the opener was the team's 36th of the year, setting a new school record. The previous standard for defeats in a season was 35 shared by the 1994 and 1997 teams. DeLorenzo, who was ejected in the sixth inning of the second game, was also hit by a pitch in game two giving him 12 on the season, a new SJU record.
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