GALVESTON – The Temple College baseball team captured the championship of Galveston College's Island Invitational by winning all three of its games Friday and Saturday at Bernard Davis Stadium.
The Leopards were the only club in the five-team, two-day tournament to post a 3-0 record. Temple will take a 5-1 record into its home opener, a single game against No. 14-ranked Navarro at 2 p.m. Friday at Danny Scott Sports Complex.
Coach Craig McMurtry's Leopards edged Alvin 3-2 on Friday, then on Saturday they beat Blinn 5-1 and clobbered host Galveston 15-3 in a game shortened to five innings by the run rule.
TC's closest game of the weekend was its first. The Leopards led Alvin 1-0 and 2-1, but the Dolphins tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth inning. Temple pushed across the go-ahead run in its half of the ninth, then freshman right-hander and Belton graduate Brian Shadrick (1-0) pitched a perfect bottom of the frame to seal the Leopards' 3-2 victory.
Temple freshman right-handed starter Jack Brinley pitched four innings, striking out six batters and allowing three hits and one run. Freshman righty Marcus Mott threw the next three innings, racking up six strikeouts and permitting three hits and one run. Shadrick faced the minimum six batters in his two innings.
Freshman shortstop Seth Stephenson spearheaded the Leopards' lineup against Alvin. The Tennessee signee went 3-for-5 with a triple, two runs batted in and stolen base. Freshman second baseman Travis Chestnut was 3-for-3 with two steals and scored all three TC runs.
Temple got dominant pitching from starter Nathan Medrano and Jackson Sioson during its 5-1 victory over Blinn. Sophomore righty Medrano (2-0), a Houston signee, struck out four and allowed four hits while pitching six shutout innings. Freshman righty Sioson earned his first save by going the final three innings, allowing three hits and one run and striking out three.
TC led 2-0 after four innings, then gained more breathing room with a three-run fifth. Freshman third baseman Ty Tilson powered the Leopards' offense, going 3-for-4 with three RBI and a steal.
Freshman first baseman Raul Aragon went 2-for-5 with a run, freshman center fielder Andre Jackson was 2-for-4 and Chestnut had a triple, a sacrifice fly and scored a run. Freshman left fielder Clay Bradford walked twice and stole two bases.
Temple's offense jumped all over host Galveston in its tournament finale, exploding for 10 runs in the top of the first inning. The Leopards tacked on two runs in the second and three in the fourth.
Five TC players drove in at least two runs apiece: Tilson and freshman second baseman Jacob Elizondo with three each and Aragon, Stephenson and freshman center fielder Joseph Redfield with two each. Elizondo, Stephenson and freshman catcher Luke Ely produced two hits each, and five Leopards scored two runs each: Ely, Redfield, Stephenson, Tilson and freshman shortstop Zane Spinn from Holland. Sophomore left fielder Max Puls had a hit, a run and a stolen base.
Freshman righty starter Ulises Quiroga (1-0) racked up six strikeouts in three innings, allowing three hits and one run. Bradford and freshman Jace Walker then pitched one inning each to finish off the Leopards' run-rule win that secured the tournament title.
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