May 5, 2006

Box Score

CINCINNATI - With no outs in the bottom of the tenth and the score tied 4-4, a costly passed ball by Temple allowed the winning run to cross the plate. The Musketeers took the contest 5-4 over the visiting Owls in Atlantic 10 action on Friday afternoon at Hayden Field. With the win, XU moves to 14-34 on the season and stand at 4-15 in conference action, while Temple drops to 9-35 overall and 3-14 in A-10 action.

Temple got on the board first as a single brought around Jamie Abercrombie in the top of the seventh. TU used three hits in the inning to plate the run and take the 1-0 lead.

Xavier answered in the bottom half with a two-run homerun by Andy Zeller that cleared the left field wall and gave the junior his first dinger of the season. Adam Lipski started the inning with a walk and Zellers drove him in during the following at-bat.

The Owls would knot the score at 2-2 in the top of the ninth as a solo shot by Steve Mury off Xavier reliever Mark Janszen just made it over the left field fence. Temple then held XU scoreless in the bottom half of the inning to send the game to extra innings before plating two more in the top of the tenth off a two-run homerun by Dan Brady.

With the lead 4-2 in favor of the visiting Owls heading into the bottom of the tenth, Xavier decided to record three of its eight hits in the final inning. Sean Brewer led off the inning with a single to right. Adam Lipski followed with a single to left center and after a sacrifice bunt by Collin Salzenstein turned into a base hit, it left the bases loaded for Dan Hayden. Hayden delivered a ground ball to the shortstop, which went off his glove and into centerfield allowing two runs to cross the plate and tie the score at 4-4. The next pitch caromed off the catcher's glove and allowed Salzenstein to score the game-winning run.

Lipski paced the Musketeers at the plate as the junior ended the day 2-for-3 with two runs scored and a walk. Zellers finished the game 1-for-4 with two RBIs and the eighth inning bomb, while Brewer, Steve Brown and Adam Pasono were also 1-for-4 on the afternoon. The bunt single by Brown in the seventh inning preserved his hitting streak, which is tied for the team-high this season at 13 games.

Mike Creevy started the game on the mound for the Musketeers and the junior threw eight solid innings of six-hit baseball, allowing only one run and striking out four. Janszen came in to pitch the ninth but allowed the solo shot to tie the game and earned the blown save. The junior would redeem himself as he picked up the first win of his career after the XU rally in the tenth.

The two teams will take the field for game two of the A-10 series tomorrow at 12:00 pm. Xavier's Michael Lucas (0-8, 5.30 ERA) will get the nod on the hill for the blue and white and will face Temple's Arshwin Asjes (3-6, 4.14 ERA).