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RICHMOND, Va. – The La Salle baseball team scored four runs in the first three innings and enjoyed a quality start from Shawn O'Neill in a 6-3 victory over Richmond on Sunday afternoon at Pitt Field. The Explorers took two of three from the Spiders over the weekend to improve their Atlantic 10 record to 4-3 (8-19 overall).

"It takes a quality performance to win a series on the road in the A-10" head coach Mike Lake said post-game. "Every team is capable of beating anybody and we were fortunate to come out ahead this weekend."

Lake's squad jumped on the home team early, picking up two runs in the first and two more in the third to open up a 4-0 lead.

"Getting an early lead really helps our pitching staff," Lake said. "They don't feel like they have to be perfect and they can just focus on throwing strikes."

O'Neill (W, 3-5) threw plenty of strikes on the day, walking just two and scattering five hits in seven innings on the hill. Richmond (14-14-1, 5-4 A-10) mustered up two runs on five hits against the southpaw, who spent his first two collegiate seasons as a Spider.

"Shawn's main focus was just trying to come home with a series win," Lake said. "He wanted the ball in his hand and did a great job going deep into the game for us."

By the time O'Neill exited the game after seven, the Explorers held a 6-2 lead. Tom Fazzini coughed up a run in the eighth before Adam Cherry shut the door in the ninth with his fourth save of the year.

The visitors notched 14 hits on the afternoon, led by three-hit efforts from Justin Korenblatt and Mark Williams, who clobbered his fourth homer of the season in the third inning.

Richmond starter Zach Grossfield (1-2) took the loss. He was charged with four earned runs in three innings. The Spiders employed the use of five more relievers to retire the Explorers 27 times.

La Salle will return to the diamond on Tuesday when it visits Delaware in round two of the Liberty Bell Classic.

NOTES: Korenblatt collected his 11^th multi-hit game on Sunday, most on the team…George Smith Jr extended his team-best hitting streak to 10 games…Over his last five outings, O'Neill has a 1.13 ERA with 11 strikeouts. He has earned three wins and two saves in the span