George Hudock scored two runs and drove in another.

Ken Elkind was 2-for-4 with a RBI single.

John Vincent scored a run and also hit a sacrifice fly.

Gerard Breslin pitched two perfect innings to seal the win.

NEWARK, DE - Junior Dan Waters reached double figures in strikeouts for the second time this season, and a total team effort at the plate by the La Salle University Baseball team led to a 7-2 victory over Delaware in the semifinals of the Liberty Bell Classic at Bob Hannah Stadium, Wednesday afternoon.

 

With the win, La Salle advances to its first-ever Liberty Bell Classic Championship game and will face Lafayette, a 12-10 winner over Villanova Tuesday. The game will be played at Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night at 8 PM.

 

Waters, who entered the game with 44 strikeouts this season, including a 12-K performance against Delaware State (March 14), fanned seven of the first eight batters he faced and 11 Blue Hens in all. He struck out the side in the first and fourth innings, and allowed just four hits in six innings of work to improve his record to 3-3.

 

Every starter for the Explorers either scored a run or recorded an RBI and senior George Hudock got that scoring started in the second. After drawing a leadoff walk, he moved to second on a wild pitch and to third on sophomore John Rickards' single up the middle. With runners at the corners, Rickards stole second and Hudock strolled home after an error by the Blue Hens' catcher.

 

It was Hudock again that crossed the plate for La Salle's second run. He singled to lead off the fourth inning and moved to second on a groundout by Rickards. Freshman Ken Elkind drove him in with a two-out single to right.

 

La Salle (10-17) put three more up on the board in the fifth inning, increasing its lead to 5-0. Senior Mike Essery started the rally with a leadoff single and was followed by sophomore Dennis Burge's hit-by-pitch and both moved up a base on a groundball out.

 

With a base open, Delaware opted to intentionally walk senior Rich Prall, which set up a bases loaded situation with Hudock. He drove in Essery after being hit by a pitch for the fourth time in the last two games. Rickards followed with a RBI single to left field and junior John Vincent knocked in another with a sacrifice fly.

 

Delaware (13-12) managed its first run off Waters with a two-out RBI double by Adam Tsakonas in the bottom of the fifth, which scored Brandon Menchaca, who led off the inning with a single. They cut their deficit down to 5-2 with another run in the seventh on a RBI double by Ryan Jablonski, which again scored Menchaca.

 

La Salle pushed its lead to five runs with two more runs in the top of the eighth. They scored another run with a bases loaded walk and junior Bill Kern added a RBI with a sacrifice fly.

 

Junior Gerard Breslin pitched two perfect innings in relief of senior John Reifsnyder, who threw in the seventh. In all, the Explorer staff struck out 15 batters and allowed just two runs on six hits.

 

The Explorers will now focus on improving upon their successful start in the Atlantic 10 Conference as they head to Rhode Island for a three-game series with the Rams starting at 3 PM Friday and continuing with a game Saturday and Sunday, both starting at 12 PM.