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STATS
ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — Behind a complete
game from Ben White, Temple was able to fight off 
a fast start from St. Bonaventure for a 6-5 win in the Atlantic 10
series opener on a picture-perfect Thursday afternoon at Fred
Handler Park.
The one-run loss is the third in the last four games and the
10th of the season for the youthful Bonnies, who fall to
16-30 on the season and 7-18 in A-10 action. The win moves Temple
(13-36) two games ahead of the Brown and White in the A-10
standings at 9-16.
White fought off a rocky start to toss his fourth complete game
of the season and improve to 4-6. White gave up four runs and three
hits over the first two innings, but just one run and three hits
over the final seven innings. White, who entered the game third in
the A-10 in strikeouts, sat down eight Bonnies.
St. Bonaventure jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the
first on a ground out by junior Jesse
Bosnik that scored senior Nick
Cunliffe from third base. Bosnik's 58th RBI
of the season was made possible after Cunliffe worked a leadoff
walk and then moved all the way to third with some heads-up
base-running on a single by freshman Jason
Radwan to left field.
Temple bounced back with two runs in the top of the second
inning to take a brief 2-1 lead, but a three-run home run by
sophomore Ryan
Skellie turned a one-run deficit into a 4-2 advantage
for the Brown and White. Skellie's fourth home run of the season
came with two outs and brought home freshmen Billy
Urban and Austin
Ingraham.
With starter Ben White settling down to retire 10 straight
batters after St. Bonaventure's three-run second inning, the Owls
began to chip away at the Bona lead with one run in top of the
fourth and two more in the fifth off of St. Bonaventure starter
Eddie
Gray. The second run of the fifth inning gave the Owls
a 5-4 lead.
TU cleanup batter Steve Nikorak gave the Owls an insurance run,
which it would later need, drilling a solo home run to left center
field to make it 6-4.
The Bonnies bounced back in their half of the seventh with a
solo home run of their own off the bat of sophomore Nick
Brennen. Brennen's 10th home run of the
season led off the inning, while the Brown and White left the
possible game-tying run on second base to end the inning. The
runner left on-base was the only was the only one of the game for
St. Bonaventure.
After entering the game with two outs in the seventh, senior
Cory
Sudbrook held the Owls scoreless in the eighth and got
the first out of the ninth in his single-season record-breaking
24th appearance. Sudbrook handed the ball over to
classmate Brian
Hardner, who got the final two outs of the ninth to
keep the score at 6-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth.
Unfortunately, the Bonnies were unable to get anything going in
their final at-bat, as White retired the Bonnies in order and the
final eight batters of the game.
Gray finishes the season with six straight starts of six or more
innings and a 4-6 record. The Pulaski, N.Y. native lasted 6.2
innings, giving up six runs on eight hits with three
strikeouts.
Brennen joins Bosnik as just the second duo in program history
to hit double-digit home runs in the same season. The St. Mary's,
Pa. duo has a combined 21 home runs this season. Classmates Brian
Pellegrini and Joe Rizzo accomplished the feat in 2005 and
2006.
The two teams will commence at Fred Handler Park on Friday for
game two of the series. The Bonnies will send freshman righty
Andrew
Revello to the mound, while Temple's Matt Mongiardini
will get the nod. First pitch is slated for noon and all the action
can be heard live on WHDL 1450 AM or www.GoBonnies.com through service of Stretch Internet.
