Box Score

JOHNSON CITY, Tn. - The La Salle baseball team rallied in the middle innings but fell to East Tennessee State 9-6 in the opening match up of a three-game set on Friday afternoon. 

The Explorers (5-7) took the early lead in the top of the first with RBI's from Marc Schoch and Adam Kammler. 

Trailing 6-2 in the fourth, La Salle began to chip away with back-to-back RBI doubles by Dan Klem and Brendan Norton.  In the fifth, Jon Gyles singled home Schoch and two batters later, Klem tied it the game at 6-6 with another RBI.  Klem finished the game 3-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. 

George Smith Jr. extended his season-long hitting streak to six games with a single in the second.  The sophomore went 1-for-3 in the game. 

Eric Van Wyk got the start on the hill for La Salle and settled down in the latter stages of the game to keep the visiting team within striking distance.  The southpaw was tagged with the loss and allowed eight runs (four earned) off nine hits in six innings. 

ETSU scored runs in the bottom half of the sixth and seventh to take the lead for good. 

The two teams will continue the weekend series on Saturday at 1 p.m.