PHILADELPHIA – Winners of eight of its last 10 games, the La Salle baseball team will take a weekend off from Atlantic 10 play and will square off three times against the Delaware Blue Hens. Friday and Saturday's games will be played in Newark before the Blue and Gold return to DeVincent Field on Sunday for their final home game of the season. Senior day festivities are set to begin at 12:45 p.m.
La Salle Explorers (20-21, 13-5 A-10) at Delaware Blue Hens (28-16, 12-9 CAA)
Friday, May 3, 2013 | 3 PM | Live Video |Live Statistics
Saturday, May 4, 2013 | 1 PM | Live Statistics
Delaware Blue Hens (28-16, 12-9 CAA) at La Salle Explorers (20-21, 13-5 A-10)
Sunday, May 5, 2013 | 1 PM | Live Statistics
Live Tweets @ExplorerGameDay
Probable Starters
G1: LHP
Ryan Donohue (3-3, 5.74 ERA) vs. RHP Chad Kuhl (7-2, 3.84 ERA)
G2: LHP
Shawn O'Neill (4-4, 6.90 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Soren (3-3, 2.85 ERA)
G3: RHP
Shane Hollman (3-4, 5.02 ERA) vs. RHP Adam Davis (4-5, 3.93 ERA)
Explorer Notes
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La Salle is 13-5 in the A-10 this season. The previous program high for A-10 wins is 14, accomplished in 2010. The Explorers best-ever A-10 winning percentage was notched in 2011 (13-11, .542).
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Since returning from spring break, La Salle has posted an 18-10 record.
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The Explorer rank seventh in the A-10 in batting average (.268), 15th in ERA (5.60), and fourth in fielding percentage (.970).
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In conference games, the Blue and Gold rank fourth in batting average (.285), 11th in ERA (4.16), and eighth in fielding percentage (.968).
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Seniors Pat Christensen and Dan Klem were named Big 5 Pitcher and Player of the Week on Monday for games played April 22-28. It marked the fourth time this season that Christensen had garnered the weekly recognition.
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Christensen's 10 saves this season are the most in the conference, upping his career total to 43. The tally is tied for the sixth-most in NCAA Division I history. In relief, the La Jolla, Calif. native is now 5-1 on the year with 10 saves, having earned a win or save in 15 of the Explorers' 20 victories on the season. Working as a reliever, Christensen has amassed a 0.53 ERA with 40 strikeouts and only six walks in 33.2 innings. In conference play, Christensen has notched an 0.77 ERA, the second-best figure in the A-10.
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Klem's .342 batting average ranks tenth in the conference while his .395 clip in conference play is the third-highest clip in the league. His 30 hits against A-10 competition are the most of any player in-conference this season. He is riding a five game hitting streak and has amassed 17 multi-hit games on the year, most on the club.
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Sophomore Mark Williams comes in fifth in the A-10 in hitting (.357) while ranking third in slugging percentage (.522). He is slashing .400/.452/.600 in A-10 play this season.
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Sophomore Justin Korenblatt is the club's third-leading hitter at .326 and leads the squad in triples (4) and total bases (65).
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Freshman Joey Ravert is batting .429 (21-49) over his last 14 games with a .451 on base percentage and .557 slugging percentage. He has raised his average from .237 to .324 in the span.
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Sophomore Kevin Baron leads the Explorers in runs (24) and is tied for the team lead in walks (18).
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Sophomore Kevin Conroy leads the club in multiple RBI games (6) and ranks second on the team in RBI (23).
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Sophomore Ryan Welling leads the team in homers with three.
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Junior George Smith, Jr. has reached base in 10 consecutive games.
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Sophomore Shane Hollman is 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA in A-10 games this season. He has struck out 17 hitters in 26 innings of work.
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Sophomore Adam Cherry and Junior Dominic Sgroi have each made nine appearances in conference games, tied for second-most in the league behind Christensen's 11 appearances.
Blue Hen Notes
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Delaware has lost two of its last three and six of its last eight, most recently defeating Rutgers, 4-2, on Wednesday afternoon.
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The Blue Hens rank in the top-10 nationally in batting average (.320), doubles (105), and slugging percentage (.467).
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Jimmy Yezzo leads the country in batting average (.444) and hits (83) and also leads the Blue Hens in runs (43), doubles (22), home runs (12), total bases (145), and slugging percentage (.775).
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Nick Ferdinand leads the club in walks (22) and ranks second on the team behind Yezzo in nearly every offensive category.
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The Blue Hens have five hitters with over 100 at bats batting .300 or higher.
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Delaware has stolen 22 bases as a team and has been caught 18 times (55 percent).
Up Next
The Explorers will trek up to Olean, N.Y. for a three-game A-10 series vs. St. Bonaventure beginning on Friday, May 10 at noon.
