Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - After five straight games away from Philadelphia, the baseball team opened Hank DeVicnent Field in style with an 11-1 victory over Lafayette on Tuesday afternoon.

The Explorers (3-3) struck first in the second inning when Brendan Norton drove in a run with a bases-loaded hit by pitch.  The next batter, Jeff Flax, singled home Joe Bennie to put La Salle on top 2-0.  Flax finished the game 4-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

Bennie led off the fourth with an opposite field solo home run, the first hit by La Salle batter this season.  La Salle tacked on another run later in the inning when Norton scored on a balk by Lafayette reliever Ben Meer.

The Leopards (2-2) threatened in the fifth as Scott Kelleher led off the frame with a double off La Salle starting pitcher Mark Williams.  Kelleher later scored on an RBI fielder's choice by James McCool to bring Lafayette within 4-1. Southpaw Ryan Donahue relieved Williams with two men on and stopped the bleeding for La Salle with a strikeout to end the threat.

Jon Gyles made his mark on the game in the latter innings with RBI singles in the sixth and eighth to provide some insurance for the Explorers.

Williams, a freshman, made his debut on the hill for La Salle and lasted 4.1 innings in his first career victory.  The right-hander allowed just one run off three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.

Donahue and Mike McLeod turned in scoreless relief outings for the Explorers.  McLeod earned the save and did not allow a hit or a run in 2.2 innings pitched out of the bullpen.  The righty got perhaps the biggest outs of the game and forced a double-play in the sixth with the tying run at the plate for Lafayette. 

Tony Negrin, Zack Feierstein, Ryan Welling, Dan Klem and Joe Bennie also added RBI for La Salle in a six-run eighth inning before the game was called due to player safety.