PHILADELPHIA – Facing wet and windy conditions on Friday, the La Salle University baseball team fell to Saint Joseph's, 12-3, from Hank DeVincent Field in Atlantic 10 Conference action.
 
For the second day in a row, Saint Joseph's (11-11, 2-3 A-10) took command early as the Hawks took a 6-0 lead after the first two innings. The Hawks got to La Salle starter Matt Holt in the second inning, hitting two home runs to bring five runs across the plate.
 
Saint Joseph's, which finished the contest with a whopping 17 hits, continued to extend its lead with four more runs over the fourth and fifth innings.
 
Trailing 10-0, La Salle (5-19, 0-5 A-10) scored its first run in the sixth inning, as senior Yan Carlo Rivera scored on a wild pitch.
 
The Hawks added another run in the eighth before the Explorers tallied a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame. Senior Austin Constantini tripled to left center to drive home Rivera and later scored on an RBI single by junior Ben Faso.
 
Saint Joseph's registered one more run in the ninth, leading to the 12-3 final.
 
Constantini went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI, while Rivera was 1-for-2 with two runs and a walk. Freshman Alexarmando Diaz struck out three and gave up just two hits over 2.2 scoreless innings of relief.
 
The two teams will conclude their three-game series on Saturday at 12 p.m.