Temple again split a pair of games at the TSU Tiger Classic on Saturday, doubling up Western Michigan, 8-4, but then falling to host team Tennessee State, 7-5.
Western Michigan struck first against Temple, scoring twice in the top of the third, but the Owls took the lead in the bottom of the frame. With one out, senior shortstop Sarah Prezioso doubled to right field, and then junior center fielder Lacey McKeon bunted a single to advance Prezioso. Senior catcher Stephanie Pasquale batted next, and reached safely on an error by Broncos’ left fielder Melissa Palmer. Both Prezioso and McKeon scored on the play. Temple’s starting pitcher sophomore Kelsey Dominik drove in Pasquale with a single, and Temple led 3-2.
Western Michigan quickly tied the game in the fourth, with shortstop Sabrina Gamboa leading off with a home run to center field. The Broncos then regained the lead in the sixth.
Down 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth, Temple took advantage of two Western Michigan errors to send 11 batters to the plate and score five runs. Prezioso scored the go-ahead run with two outs on an error by pitcher Allyson Kus, with Pasquale batting. Dominik, who went 4-for-4 with three RBIs, drove in two insurance runs.
The right-handed Dominik then finished off the Broncos with her arm, allowing one hit in the seventh before throwing out the final batter at first to secure the Owls’ 8-4 win. Dominik’s final pitching line was seven innings pitched, nine hits, four runs, three earned, one walk, and one strikeout.
Directly after the Western Michigan game, Temple faced off against Tennessee State. The Tigers immediately got the Owls’ pitcher, junior right-hander Jessica Mahoney, into a jam. After their leadoff batter was hit with a pitch, Tennessee State loaded the bases and scored one unearned run, before Tayler Shimizu struck out swinging on a 3-2 count.
The Owls tied the game in the second with an unearned run of their own, in a sloppy inning that featured three swinging strikeouts, one error, two walks, and no hits. Temple added two more unearned runs in the third, with the aid of two errors and one hit, a two-RBI double by sophomore left fielder Annie Marcopolus.
The Tigers tied the game, 3-3, in the bottom of the third with a no out, two-run homer. The batter, Jayna Hanawahine, represented the game’s first earned run.
Temple took the lead back in the fourth on an RBI double by Pasquale, but then the Tigers broke the game open in the bottom of the inning. After Mahoney put runners on the corners with one out, Temple coach Joe DiPietro pulled Mahoney in favor of freshman right-hander Amanda Gatt. The next Tiger batter reached first on an error by Prezioso, which also brought in the tying run. Tennessee State scored two more runs in the frame to take a 6-4 lead.
Each team would score once more in the sixth, putting the score to 7-5 Tigers; and Temple was only able to muster one hit in the seventh, before freshman right fielder Toni Santos struck out swinging to end the game.
The two teams combined for eight errors, four apiece. Of the twelve total runs in the game, only four were earned. Three batters—two Tigers, one Owl—were hit by a pitch.
The game also went late into the night. It started an hour and a half late and did not end until after 11 p.m., CST.
The Owls will face Indiana State on Sunday at 12:30 p.m., in Temple’s final game of the tournament.
Don McDermott can be reached at donald.mcdermott@temple.edu.
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