Baseball | March 1, 2018

PHILADELPHIA – After winning back-to-back games earlier this week, the La Salle University baseball team will head to Kansas State for a three-game series against the Wildcats beginning on Friday. It will be the fourth consecutive road opponent for the Explorers, who are off to their best start since 2015.

HOW TO FOLLOW
La Salle (4-4) at Kansas State (4-4)
Manhattan, Kan.
Game 1 | Friday – 4 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH
Game 2 | Saturday – 5 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH
Game 3 | Sunday – 1 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH

Twitter: @LaSalleBase   #LaSalleBASE

RECOGNITION FOR ARNOLD AND TOAL
On Monday, senior Chase Arnold and freshman Tommy Toal were recognized with weekly awards for their efforts against The Citadel over the weekend. Arnold was tabbed as the Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week, while Toal was selected Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week.

Arnold smacked a pair of home runs, including his first career grand slam, in addition to hitting .364 with six RBI, five runs and a .909 slugging percentage over the three games. Meanwhile, Toal made an immediate impact in his first two career starts at third base, batting .571 with three RBI, two runs and a .714 slugging percentage.

DYNAMIC OFFENSE TAKES CHARGE
La Salle exploded for 15 hits in a 12-1 win at Maryland Eastern Shore on Tuesday. The Explorers and Hawks were tied after four innings before La Salle racked up 11 runs over the next four frames. Eight different players had a hit in the contest for La Salle, including five with multi-hit games. Seniors Austin Constantini and Brian Dudeck each had three hits apiece, and sophomore Ryan Guckin blasted his first home run of the season.

Prior to that, the Explorers accumulated 35 hits during their series at The Citadel, coming away with a 6-4 victory in the finale after a pair of one-run defeats, including a heartbreaking 15-inning setback in the series opener. La Salle took a three-run lead to the ninth inning in the first game before the Bulldogs forced extra innings. In the final game, the Explorers leaped out to a 5-0 lead and hung on for the two-run victory. Junior Connor Hinchliffe went 6-for-12 over the first two games and then earned his first career save on the mound in Sunday's win.

LEADING THE PACK
Through their first eight games of the season, the Explorers lead the A-10 in hits with 93, ranking 24th in the nation. In addition, La Salle is tied for second in the conference with 59 runs, which ranks among the top 50 in the country. The Explorers are also among the nation's top 50 in doubles (17) and batting average (.295), second best in the A-10 in those categories as well as home runs (5).

Individually, Arnold is among the league leaders in a number of categories. The senior slugger is tied for the league lead with three homers and is third in both RBI (10) and slugging percentage (.778). Junior right-hander Mike Anthony is tied for first in the A-10 and fifth in the country with two wins. Constantini and junior Ben Faso are tied for fourth in the conference with 12 hits each, while Guckin is fourth in doubles with three. Arnold and junior Kevin McGowan are tied for fifth in the league with eight runs apiece, and Hinchliffe is fifth in RBI with eight.

SCOUTING THE WILDCATS
Following an 0-3 start to the season, Kansas State has since won four of its last five games. The Wildcats faced tough challenges against ranked opponents South Alabama and Indiana as well as 2016 National Champion Coastal Carolina. Kansas State followed with four straight victories, defeating Virginia Tech and Elon before taking the first two of a three-game set at Old Dominion. It'll be the first home series of the year for the Wildcats, who dropped an 11-8 decision to ODU their last time out.

Kansas State is led by Will Brennan and TK McWhertor on offense. Brennan leads the team with a .459 batting average and 10 runs, while McWhertor is right behind with a .450 average. Jake Biller is also hitting .344 with a .563 slugging percentage, and Drew Mount provides the power with three homers and 11 RBI. On the mound, Kasey Ford (1-0) leads the team with 12 strikeouts, while Jared Marolf has eight strikeouts and a save to go with a 1.17 ERA.