Baseball gets big test at Temple

The Charlotte 49ers (20-13, 5-7) return to Atlantic 10 Conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Temple, which is second in the league with an 8-3 record. After a slow start to conference play, Charlotte swept three games from George Washington last weekend.

Charlotte sophomore Joe Yermal (5-2, 3.38 ERA) faces right-hander Ben White (2-3, 7.23 ERA) in Friday's 3 p.m. opener. Saturday at 1 p.m., 49ers sophomore Andrew Smith (2-5, 4.84 ERA) opposes freshman southpaw Dan Moller (2-4, 7.14 ERA). In the Sunday 1 p.m. finale, Charlotte junior Patrick Lawson (4-2) will face Temple's Ryan Thomas (3-1).

Notes

--Playing in the last 13 games, Charlotte junior Rob Lyerly is 18-for-50 (.360) and has three home runs, six doubles, 19 RBI and a .660 slugging percentage. He is also perfect in the field during that span, with no errors in 117 chances at first base.

--In `09, the 49ers are 18-3 when the opposition scores five or fewer runs and 2-10 when the opposition scores six or more runs. The 49ers are allowing just 5.4 runs per game this season. Charlotte has scored 133 runs in its last 11 games (12.1 per contest).