April 28, 2011
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RICHMOND, VA - With only nine games left in conference-play, the baseball's team quest for an Atlantic 10 championship takes a crucial turn down I-95 this weekend as La Salle will head south to take on Richmond in a three-game series.
The Explorers (23-15, 10-5) have won eight-of-nine in A-10 play including three-game sweeps of Temple and George Washington earlier this month. La Salle is also a stellar 5-1 in road conference games as will they put that mark to the test this weekend in another hostile environment at Pitt Field in Richmond.
The Spiders (20-18-2, 7-5) are right on La Salle's heels in the Atlantic 10 standings and sit 1.5 games back of the Explorers for second place. The top six teams make next month's Atlantic 10 Championship at Campbell's Field in Camden, NJ.
La Salle will enter this weekend playing some of their best offensive baseball of the season and Jon Gyles has been leading the charge all season at the plate. The junior has reached base safely in a remarkable 37 straight games heading into play on Friday, the longest active streak in the nation.
On the mound, the Explorers have been paced all season by their top two starters, Kevin Fuqua and Eric Van Wyk. Van Wyk has been sensational in his last two outings, combining for 16.1 innings pitched and 15 strikeouts without allowing a walk.
Fuqua has been equally brilliant and has posted a 4-3 record with a 3.53 ERA in 10 starts this season. The veteran righty also surpassed a milestone in his last outing, and now sits in first place all time on the La Salle career innings pitched list. The senior has thrown 285.2 innings in his career and passed Jeff LaPorta on the all-time list in his last start. He also sits third on the all-time strikeout list with 191 punchouts for his career.
Speaking of career milestones, Pat Christensen has already tied the single-season save record that he set last season with 11 saves so far in 2011. That mark comfortably leads the Atlantic 10 and for his career, Christensen sits seven behind the all-time La Salle leader, Gerard Breslin, who tallied 29 saves from 2004-07.
The sophomore will look to break his single-season record this weekend as he continues to state his case for being the top closer in the nation. Currently, the La Jolla, CA native is ranked sixth nationally in saves, two behind the leading save-getters in the country.
Offensively, March Schoch and Jeff Flax have cemented the middle of La Salle's lineup all season long and will look to continue their stellar junior seasons this weekend.
Schoch leads the team wtih a .331 batting average and Flax sits atop the club with 26 RBI.
In addition, Gyles' recent surge has pushed his average over the .300-mark at .302, making three Explorer hitters sporting plus-.300 batting averages. Gyles also leads the team with three home runs.
For Richmond, they are led on offense by senior outfielder Mike Mergenthaler, who has started all 40 games and leads the club in hitting (.319), doubles (14), home runs (4) and RBI (31).
On the mound, lefties Bret Williams and Chris Bates pace a rotation that has posted a solid 4.44 ERA this season. Williams leads the way as the No. 1 starter and is 5-1 wtih a 3.09 ERA this season.
The series between Richmond and La Salle will renew after the two teams did not meet last season. Richmond took two-of-three from the Explorers the last times these two clubs met in 2009.
Game one of the series will begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, wtih game two set for 2 p.m. on Saturday and the series finale scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
All three games of the series will be streamed live on GoExplorers.com with Jared Smith on for the call. Live video will also be available for a fee in addition to free live stats on the Richmond Athletics homepage.
Probable Statrers:
Friday
LAS - RHP Kevin Fuqua (4-3, 3.53)
RICH - LHP Bret Williams (5-1, 3.09)
Saturday
LAS - LHP Eric Van Wyk (3-0, 2.67)
RICH - LHP Chris Bates (1-2, 4.91)
Sunday
LAS - RHP Shane Petrellis (2-3, 5.26)
RICH - RHP Matt Trent (1-1, 8.47)
