CLINTON, S.C. – The La Salle baseball team scored four runs over its final three at-bats and smothered a 9th inning Presbyterian rally to defeat the Blue Hose 6-3 in the series opener on Friday afternoon at the PC Baseball Complex.
Jared Melone ripped a two-out double with the bases loaded in the 7th to plate three runs and put the Explorers up 5-2.
Chase Arnold then knocked a solo homer in the 8th to make it 6-2 with the Explorers needing six outs to seal the win.
CJ Pruitt pitched a scoreless 8th in relief of
Joey Ravert (W, 1-1), who allowed two runs over seven strong innings. The righty fanned four while scattering six hits and a pair of walks.
Reliever
Tom Fazzini traded a run for two outs in the 9th inning before exiting with the bases loaded and the winning run at the plate. Senior
Billy Worswick (S, 1) retired the only batter he faced to strand the bases loaded and earn the save.
The first three innings played scoreless before PC scored twice in the bottom of the 4th. La Salle quickly tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the 5th, using an RBI groundout by
Collin McGowan and a run-scoring single from
Kevin McGowan to even the score.
Game two of the series has La Salle's
Luke Reilly starting against Presbyterian lefty Brian Kehner. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. from the PC Baseball Complex.
