April 21, 2010
Box Score
PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA - La Salle Baseball fell behind early to Villanova, but mounted a late-inning comeback which fell short as the Wildcats took the non-conference game, 10-7, Wednesday afternoon at Villanova Ballpark.
In the defeat, John Malloy moved himself up in a couple more career categories at the school and Jon Gyles did not cool off after his multi honors he received, and Brian Meagher scored two runs.
Trailing 7-1 entering the seventh inning, the Explorers sent nine men to the plate and scored four times to cut their deficit to just two.
Gyles, who was 3-for-5 with two runs scored, started the rally with the first of his two doubles in the game, which gives him 12 for the year, two shy of tying for the fifth-most in a single season at the school. It was his 14th multi-hit game of the season, which is second on the team.
Jeff Flax, who had two hits, singled back up the middle to plate Gyles and after Chris Umstead also singled, Adam Kammler, who was 2-for-4, singled through the right side to load the bases. His brother Eric Kammler walked to bring home one run before the first out of the frame.
Malloy then roped a two-RBI double into right center to make it 7-5. It was Malloy's 52nd career double, which is second all-time at the school and two shy of tying the top spot, Mike Fuchs (1998-01) at 54. It also upped his career total base mark to 361, fourth all-time at La Salle.
The RBI gave him 102 for his career, just 10 shy of reaching the top 10 in that category and with his four at-bats in the contest, he now has 762 in the Blue and Gold, the most ever for an Explorer. He now has a team-high eight multi-RBI games in 2010.
Meanwhile, Meagher, who stands tied for sixth all-time with 38 career doubles, is just five at-bats away from cracking that lists' top 10. His two runs in the contest pushed his season total to 32, which is second on the team, and already nine more than his previous seasons best.
Brendan Norton singled in four at-bats, which scored Meagher in the ninth for La Salle's final run. He also reached base twice in five plate appearances.
Villanova (20-14) raced out to an early four-run lead after two, and then upped its lead to 6-1 with three in the fifth. After La Salle cut their lead to 7-5, the Wildcats responded with three more in the bottom of the seventh to add some insurance.
La Salle (13-21) will take a day off before opening a crucial Atlantic 10 Conference series this weekend against Saint Joseph's on Friday starting at 3 PM at Campbell's Field in Camden, NJ.
