March 6, 2010

Box Score

NORFOLK, VA - For the second straight day, La Salle Baseball lost a one-run decision, this time it was 5-4, on Saturday afternoon at Bud Metheny Stadium, as the Explorers ninth-inning rally fell short.

Jeff Flax had a pair of hits and drove in a pair of runs, while Brian Meagher also pounded out two hits, which included La Salle's only extra base hit (a double), and Tony Negrin scored twice.

After spotting the hosts a one-run lead after one, the Explorers tied the contest in the third with a two-out RBI single by Flax, which plated Negrin, who reached base via single.

ODU (8-4) responded with two in the bottom of the frame on back-to-back RBI singles, also with two outs, to take a 3-1 lead.

La Salle cut its deficit to one in the fifth with another two-out RBI. After Brendan Norton and Flax hit back-to-back singles, John Malloy drew a walk to load the bases, which was followed by a Jon Gyles RBI walk.

Monarch starter Ben Tomchick (2-0) struck out the next Explorer to end the threat. He went 7.1 innings in the game, allowed eight hits, two runs, walked two and struck out nine. Corey Toth finished off the contest (1.2 IP) and allowed one hit and two unearned runs, but still earned his second save of 2010.

Sean Kennedy (0-2) suffered the loss after throwing 2.2 innings and allowing three runs, two earned. He walked five batters, while ODU drew nine in all. Kevin Christy went four innings allowing two runs and Jerry Dougherty threw 1.1 innings of scoreless ball.

The Monarchs tacked on single runs in the bottom of the fifth and seventh innings to increase their advantage to three.

In the ninth, Meagher singled to lead off the frame and moved to third on an error while Negrin took second. Norton hit a sacrifice fly for one run and Flax brought home Negrin on a grounder before the final out was recorded.

La Salle (0-5) will conclude its three-game series with ODU on Sunday at 1 PM.