PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle baseball team will begin its spring break excursion to the southwest on Friday, when the first of a three game set will begin at Texas Tech.

La Salle Explorers (2-4) at Texas Tech Red Raiders (6-5)
Sunday, March 3, 2013 | 2 PM | Rip Griffin Park
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Probable Starters:
Game 3: LHP Shawn O'Neill vs. RHP Matt Withrow (1-1, 4.50 ERA)

Scouting the Explorers
Due to a streak of inclement weather, the Explorers have only managed four games on the season. After winning their opener 8-7 over Toledo, the Blue and Gold have dropped three straight, including two last weekend at the North Carolina State tournament.

Shortstop Kevin Baron is hitting .538 (7-for-13) in the early going, the second-highest tally in the Atlantic 10. The sophomore has also played flawlessly in the field, with 11 putouts and 10 assists on the young season. Ryan Welling has started three of four games for the Explorers behind the dish and enters the weekend as the conference's seventh-leading hitter (.462, 6-13). Brandon Day (.375, 3-8) and Kevin Conroy (.333, 4-12) round out the rest of the .300 hitters for the Explorers. Conroy leads the club in RBI with four and has a double and a triple on the year.

Staff ace Ryan Donohue rebounded from a rough opening outing with a five inning, no run showing at NC State on Saturday. Alec Baum was credited with the Explorer's lone win this year after throwing three scoreless innings vs. Toledo.

Scouting the Red Raiders
Picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 in the preseason, Texas Tech opened its season with four straight wins followed by four straight losses. The Red Raiders got back on the winning track with an 8-6 victory at Florida International on Tuesday.

Coached by Tim Tadlock in his first season at the helm, the Red Raiders are paced on offense by sophomore Bryan Burleson. The infielder ranks in the top five in the conference in batting average (.412), hits (14), runs scored (10), walks (7), and on base percentage (.523). Junior Devin Conley has posted a .361/.381/.472 slash line thus far and is tied for the team lead in stolen bases (3).

On the bump, junior Trey Masek has registered 15 scoreless innings on the year, holding opponents to a .143 batting average. The righty has struck out 15 hitters and walked only six and picked up a win on February 16 vs. BYU.

Up Next
La Salle heads to the University of New Mexico for a two-game set beginning on Tuesday, March 5.