Powell named A-10 pitcher of the week

Temple pitcher Greg Powell won two games this past weekend to earn the Atlantic-10 pitcher of the week honor.

Powell came in for four innings of relief in the first game of a doubleheader against Duquesne. He struck out five batters and only allowed four hits in relief of Jeff Rugg.

Duquesne scored two runs in the third inning, which knocked Rugg out of the ball game on five hits and two earned runs.

Powell was scheduled to start the game but he was injured before the start. While carrying a bag, according to teammate Bob Filler, Powell pulled a muscle. Powell was forced off of the mound and into the training room.

“He came in and shut them down,” Filler said.

When he came in he only allowed one run. The run came in the top of the ninth and was too little, too late for the Dukes. Temple won the first game of the A-10 doubleheader, 5-3.

Chris Krusen hit a two-run homerun, walked once, and struck out once. Jim Tully had two RBIs on a single, Kyle Sweppenhiser drove in the other run.

The win was the first for the Temple Owls in their A-10 conference games. For Duquesne it was their first loss.

In the second game of the day Temple once again rode the arm of Powell to victory. Powell struck out six and only gave up one run in the Owls 6-1 seven-inning victory.

In 11 innings total Powell struck out 11 batters. He only allowed two earned runs, one in each game. That great box line gave the pitcher the nod as A-10 pitcher of the week. It also gave the team confidence on the mound that they lost when last year’s A-10 pitcher of the year Peter Moore graduated.

The team had been shaky on the mound all year throwing up the combination of Powell, Rugg, Chris Joyce, and Powell’s younger brother Matt.

All four looked solid but had not had breakout conference games like Powell had this past weekend.

“When he doesn’t hit his spots that’s what kills him,” Filler said. “The other day he hit his spots. He mixed it up every once and a while to keep them off balance. But hitting his spots is the key for him.”

Filler also played with Powell in a summer league. The team, which had the entire Owls outfield on it, made it to the league’s World Series game. Krusen and right fielder Joe Lyall were also on the team.

Filler said that in the World Series game Powell was on fire, the same type of fire he showed this past weekend.

“When he hits his spots he’s an All-American pitcher,” Filler said of Powell.

The final game in the weekend series was scheduled for Sunday but the rare snow postponed it until Monday.

On Monday, even with two innings from Powell, the Owls couldn’t manage a sweep of the Dukes.

Powell was rocked for six runs on three hits. He only struck out one. Chris Joyce took the loss for the Owls in his seven innings. He gave up six runs on 12 hits. The loss was his sixth of the season compared to a single victory for Joyce.

The hitting of the Dukes hurt the Owls. Adam Brooks hit a homerun and drove in three runs in the game. Nick Danzuso also hit a homerun off of Temple; he drove in two runs in the game.

The loss put the Owls at 2-4 in the conference; it improved Duquesne to 4-2. Temple plays Massachusetts in this weekend’s series at Erny Field.