Box Score

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle baseball team received key contributions from three freshmen but ultimately fell to Xavier, 4-3, in a close game on Sunday at Hank DeVincent Field. Freshmen Justin Korenblatt and Kevin Baron each had two hits while classmate Kevin Conroy hit his first collegiate home run in the loss.

Senior Tony Negrin also had a pair of hits for the Explorers.

Senior Kevin Christy threw a gutsy eight innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out six. He moved within five strikeouts of setting the new school record. The right-hander fell to 1-4 with the loss, despite an ERA of 2.76 that ranks among the Atlantic 10's leaders.

Xavier (24-25, 10-8 A-10) got on the board with a two-run home run in the first off the bat of Derek Hasenbeck. The Explorers chipped away with a run in the second to cut the deficit to 2-1 when a two-out single by senior Jon Gyles plated junior Dan Klem, who led off with a double.

The Musketeers answered with a run in the third, but in the bottom of the frame the Explorers again drew within one. Baron singled to right, moved to second on a failed pickoff attempt, got to third on Negrin's single and scored on sophomore George Smith, Jr.'s sacrifice fly to make it 3-2.

Conroy's solo homer to left-center in the fourth tied the game but Xavier once again responded with a run in the top of the fifth. A pair of groundball singles by Selby Chidemo and Tres Everhardt through the infield gave the visitors a 4-3 advantage.

The Explorers (18-28, 5-13 A-10) best chance to score came in the ninth but they faced an uphill battle against arguably the league's best closer in Seth Willoughby (1-1, 1.76 ERA, 11 saves). Korenblatt led off the frame with a line drive to right and moved to second on a ground out but the hosts could not drive him in to drop the series.

Willoughby earned his league-leading 12^th save of the season with two innings of scoreless relief (three strikeouts). Tyler Koors (2-5) picked up the win by throwing seven innings and allowing two earned runs.

Hasenbeck had two hits and drove in two for Xavier.

La Salle will take the week off for final exams before a short trip to Saint Joseph's for a three-game series beginning on Friday. Note: Saturday's game will begin at noon, rather than 1 PM as listed earlier.