PHILADELPHIA - The La Salle baseball team spent an unusual amount of time outside this winter with mild temperatures and a lack of snow helping the team get ample prep time for the upcoming 2012 season, which will begin on Saturday afternoon with a neutral site matchup against regional rival Bucknell in the opening game of the Davidson Tournament. 

"We can't wait to get started," said head coach Mike Lake.  "It's rare that we get so much time outside during the winter months and it really helped our team get up to speed for this season."

Lake, the reigning Big 5 Coach of the Year, guided his club to its second consecutive Atlantic 10 Tournament berth last spring with a 28-26 overall record and a 13-11 mark in the A-10. 

With a core nucleus of position players back from last year's squad, pitching will be the key ingredient for success in 2012. 

"We need to be solid on the mound," Lake said.  "We will need a lot of innings out of our starters and another strong year from our closer, who has done everything we have asked of him in his first two seasons."

That closer Lake speaks of, junior Pat Christensen, has already recorded 24 saves in his first two seasons, just five shy of the school record, and was named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list for the second straight season.  In 2011, Christensen went 3-2 wtih a miniscule 1.17 ERA in 28 appearances out of the bullepn and recorded 39 strikeouts with just five walks allowed in 38.1 innings pitched. 

Also returning on the mound in 2012 will be starters Eric Van Wyk and Kevin Christy.  Van Wyk was the No. 2 starter for La Salle last season and enters his senior season as the most experienced starting pitcher on the roster.  The southpaw went 3-4 with a 3.64 ERA in 14 starts last season and will begin 2012 as the ace of the staff. 

Christy was the set-up man to Christensen last season and shined in that role.  The right-hander tied for the club lead with six wins and posted a 3.74 ERA in 27 appearances out of the pen with 39 strikeouts in 43.1 innings pitched. The senior will be asked to expand his role in 2012 with the departure of former ace Kevin Fuqua to graduation and will be the No. 2 starter behind Van Wyk. 

At the plate, La Salle has a solid nucleus of reutrning players with all eight position starters back for 2012. 

Headlining the class will be the middle infield tandem of Jeff Flax and Joe Bennie.  Flax led the team last season with a .318 batting average while starting all 54 games at second base.  The senior also led the club with 70 hits.  Bennie continued to progress in the offseason and shined during the summer months playing in the prestigious Valley League.  The shortstop also started all 54 games for La Salle last season. 

Seniors Brendan Norton, Marc Schoch, Jon Gyles, Adam Kammler and Zack Feierstein also return for La Salle this season and will help stabilize the middle of the Explorer lineup. 

La Salle will spend most of February and March on the road with just six home games scheduled in the non-conference slate. The Explorers will open their home schedule on February 28 against Lafayette followed by the annual Big 5 Baseball Bash held from March 16-18 at Hank DeVincent Field. 

The 17th season of Atlantic 10 play for the Explorers begins on March 23 with a three-game series in our nation's capital against George Washington.  

The opening weekend for La Salle will consist of three games at the Davidson Tournament with a double header on Saturday against Bucknell and Davidson, followed up by a Sunday morning match up against Niagara. 

GoExplorers.com will have continuing coverage of the La Salle baseball team throughout the 2012 campaign.