May 13, 2010
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Eric Van Wyk and Pat Christensen combined to throw La Salle Baseball's first shutout of 2010 as the Explorers defeated visiting St. Bonaventure, 3-0, to open their final Atlantic 10 home series at Hank DeVincent Field Thursday afternoon.
With the victory, La Salle is now 7-1 in series openers as Van Wyk improved to 6-1 in those starts. The six wins are tied for the fifth most in a single-season at the school and the most since pitching coach Toby Fisher (1996-99) won eight games in 1999.
Christensen earned his ninth save of the season, which ties the school record for most saves in a single season with Gerard Breslin (2004-07), who saved nine in both the 2005 and 2007 seasons. His 23 games pitched this season is also the ninth most in a single season.
Scoreless through two innings, Tony Negrin led off the third with his second walk of the game. He moved to second on his second stolen base of the afternoon and moved to third when the catcher's throw bounced into short center.
John Malloy followed with a single through the right side to drive in his 112th career RBI. That number now ties him for the 10th most in a career at the school, the seventh all-time career category he is now ranked.
Meanwhile, Van Wyk allowed just one hit through three innings, a lead-off double in the second, but he struck out the side to end the frame.
In the fourth, the Bonnies responded to the Explorer run by putting runners on second and third with one out. Back-to-back singles by Nick Brennen and Ryan Skellie and a double steal put them in scoring position.
Van Wyk ended the threat with a foul out to the catcher and a pop-up to third and then allowed just a single in each of the fifth and sixth frames.
Jeff Flax, who sent the Explorers home with a walk-off home run on Tuesday night, led off the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run over the left-centerfield fence to give La Salle a 2-0 advantage.
It was 3-0 after six, as a two-out rally was started by Kevin Jones, who drew a walk. Marc Schoch, who had a pair of hits, singled Jones to third and he scored on a Negrin single through the left side.
St. Bonaventure (16-27, 7-15 A-10) again threatened in the seventh as Ryan Mosher drew a lead-off walk and Nick Cunliffe followed with a one-out walk.
Van Wyk, who went 6.1 innings, allowed five hits, walked four and struck out five, was then relieved by Christensen, who ended the inning with a strike out and soft liner to third.
Jon Gyles, who also had two hits on the day, doubled in the seventh, but was left stranded, one of the Explorers 10 in the contest. The double was Gyles' 19th of the season, tying him for the second-most ever in a single-season at La Salle.
Christensen ran into his own trouble in the eighth, as a lead-off walk and a Billy Urban single put runners on the corners with no-one out. Again, a liner to third got one out and the side was retired on a 4-6-3 double play. He finished the game going 2.2 innings, allowing just one hit and struck out two, while ended the contest with a soft grounder to him.
For the Explorers, as a member of the A-10, they have now tied the 1999 squad for the most home wins in a single season at 12. They now stand 8-5 at home in the A-10 which guarantees them their fourth .500 season or better (2009, 7-5; 2008, 8-7; 1999, 5-4), while the eight wins ties the most for a single season with the 2008 squad.
Lastly, La Salle (18-28, 11-11 A-10) has now reached 11 wins in league play faster than any other year in the conference.
