May 11, 2010
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Jeff Flax hit a walk-off three-run home run over the left field fence in the 11th inning to lift La Salle Baseball to a 12-10 come-from-behind victory over the visiting Rider Broncs in non-conference action at Hank DeVincent Field Tuesday afternoon.
Trailing 10-9 in the bottom of the frame, the fourth time the Explorers were behind on the day, Flax stepped to the plate with runners on first and third with two out. He sent the Tyler Smith (5-4) offering over the wall and gave La Salle its second extra-inning win of the season.
Rider (26-21) had taken the lead in the top of the inning on a one-out inside-the-park home run off the bat of Steve Galella. He hit a deep fly off La Salle reliever Christian Schulz (1-2), which bounced off the left-center field fence and away from centerfielder John Malloy. By the time any Explorer got to the ball Galella had circled the bases.
In a steady rain, which had started slowly in the seventh inning, La Salle went to work on Smith, who was in his fourth inning of work out of the pen. Brian Meagher worked a lead-off walk, but was forced out on a Malloy grounder.
Jon Gyles followed with a single to right field and the tying run Malloy advanced to third. Smith got Brendan Norton with a strikeout before Flax' heroics a batter later.
Four Explorers had three hits in the game, as Tony Negrin added two runs, Meagher had two runs and a two-run home run, Malloy also had two RBI and three runs, and Norton with a run and an RBI. Gyles had two hits, two RBI, and two runs, while Flax had two hits, including the bomb.
Trailing 1-0 after one, the Explorers tied the game in the second on a Kevin Jones sacrifice fly plating Norton. Down by two in the third, Malloy drove in Negrin to make it a 3-2 ballgame.
Rider seemed to break the game open in the fourth, as they sent nine men to the plate and scored four runs as the Explorers used three pitchers in the frame. Galella, who scored three runs, started the inning with a hit-by-pitch, Brandon Cotten, who also scored three times, drew a walk, and Ian Lindsay had one of his two hits on the day to load the bases.
AJ Albee, who was 1-for-4 with two runs and three RBI brought home one with a walk, Mason Heyne hit a sac fly, another Bronc scored on a grounder and a passed ball allowed home the fourth and Rider led 7-2.
La Salle answered back in its fifth, with four runs of its own, as Meagher hit his two-run shot, Malloy and Gyles hit back-to-back doubles, and Norton chased Rider starter Joe Calogero with an RBI single up the middle.
Marc Schoch tied the game in the sixth with a sac fly, plating Chris Umstead, but Rider quickly grabbed its third lead of the game with an unearned run in the top of the seventh.
Malloy's RBI triple bringing home Meagher tied the contest once again in their half of the frame, and Gyles knocked in his 44th run to give the Explorers a 9-8 lead as the rain started to fall.
The Broncs answered back when Adam Wayman, who had two hits, knocked in his second run with a groundout.
Smith would start the eighth, and after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the frame, struck out the side in the ninth and worked a perfect 10th, before surrendering the lead in the 11th.
Out of La Salle's pen, Shane Petrellis worked 2.2 innings, allowed two hits, one unearned run and struck out three. Pat Christensen went 3.2 innings, allowed one hit, one run and also struck out three, while Schulz threw the 11th surrendering just the one hit.
Special notes from the game include Malloy's movement amongst the career leaders at the school. He now stands second all-time in hits (261) and total bases (380), seventh in runs (138) and stolen bases (37), while he is first in at-bats (806), tied for first in doubles (54), and 11th in both triples (7) and RBI (111), one shy of reaching the top 10 in each of those.
Meagher hit his 39th career double, which is sixth all-time, and Flax's home run was the 101st hit of his career.
In the single-season categories, Norton is now tied for eighth with 46 runs, Gyles is tied for third with 18 doubles and eighth in RBI. Malloy's triple was the team's 17 of the season, the most by a squad since La Salle has been in the Atlantic 10 Conference.
La Salle (17-28), which won its 11 home game of the season for the third straight year, will travel to Maryland on Wednesday to face Coppin State at 3:30 PM before hosting its final home series of 2010. The Explorers will look to match or best the 1999 squad, which won 12 home games at Hank DeVincent Field the most since a member fo teh A-10, when they face St. Bonaventure in a three-game A-10 series, Thursday (3 PM), Friday (1 PM), and Senior Day Saturday (12 PM).
