Temple Edged By #22 St. John's, 3-2 :: Nikorak throws seven strong in first collegiate start

April 8, 2008

AMBLER, PA - Playing its fourth straight game against a ranked opponent, Temple received seven strong innings from freshman Steve Nikroak and gave #22 St. John's all it could handle before falling to the Red Storm, 3-2, on Tuesday at Skip Wilson Field. Nikorak allowed five hits and three earned runs in his first collegiate start and kept the Owls in the game against the Big East leader.

"You lose a 3-2 game to one of the top teams in the country, I don't think there's any shame in that," head coach Rob Valli said. "Every time we go out there, we go out to win. But today, we were probably one play away from winning the game."

After a three-game series against then-#18 Charlotte, Temple welcomed St. John's (23-6) to town looking for its second victory over a ranked opponent in three games. The Red Storm opened up a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run bloop single to center by Paul Karmas.

From that point on, Nikorak (0-1) was in control. He retired nine straight batters at one point and did not allow a runner past second base. His only mistake came in the seventh when Gino Matias made it 3-1 with a solo home run down the leftfield line. Nikorak's seven innings in a mid-week game are the most by an Owl pitcher since current senior Tom Dolan went nine innings in a 3-1 win over La Salle on May 11, 2005.

The offense had a tough time solving St. John's starter Matt Tosoni (3-0). The crafty southpaw was far from overpowering, but kept Temple off-balance with a looping curveball. The Owls managed multiple-hit innings just twice in the contest and worked hard for its eight hits.

The Cherry and White got on the board in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Matt Heltz. Junior Carmen Del Mastro singled to open the frame and moved to third on one of junior Mark Ortega's two hits on the day.

Heltz then lined a fly-ball to center which was deep enough to score Del Mastro without a throw. Junior Mike Xifaras singled but the inning ended when St. John's Chris Annino caught senior Stan Orzechowski's fly-ball in right and threw a dart to third to nail Ortega.

Temple scored an unearned run in the eighth to make it 3-2. Junior Jamie Abercrombie legged out a pinch-hit, infield single to lead off the inning and moved to second on Orzechowski's walk. After a strikeout, junior Sean Barksdale nubbed a groundball back to the pitcher in an apparent double-play ball.

But Red Storm reliever Miguel Valcarcel's throw to second sailed into centerfield to allow Abercrombie to score and Orzechowski to advance to third. St. John's turned to closer Colin Lynch to face junior Kyle Obal, who lofted a fly-ball to center that was not deep enough to score Orzechowski from third.

With senior Mike Kelch at the plate, Barksdale stole second but St. John's catcher Daniel Benedetti fired a snap-throw to third and caught Orzechowski in a run-down. The Temple senior tried to score and ran through Benedetti's tag at the plate, forcing the ball out of the catcher's mitt. But the home plate umpire ruled that Orzechowski intentionally knocked the ball loose and voided the game-tying run.

Temple went down in order in the ninth to give Lynch his ninth save of the season. Tosoni picked up the win after throwing 6.2 innings and allowing one earned run. Karmas had two hits and two RBI for St. John's.

Sophomore Matt Blackburn pitched two scoreless innings of relief for the Owls (14-14).

TU visits Towson on Wednesday afternoon at 3 PM. The game is one of just two road games during the month of April for Temple.