Baseball | April 12, 2018

PHILADELPHIA – The La Salle University baseball team will continue its four-game homestand this weekend when the Explorers return to Atlantic 10 Conference action for a three-game set against Fordham at Hank DeVincent Field.

HOW TO FOLLOW
La Salle (9-21, 1-5 A-10) vs. Fordham (19-10-1, 4-2 A-10)
Hank DeVincent Field
Friday – 3 p.m. | LIVE STATS
Saturday – 1 p.m. | LIVE STATS | WATCH
Sunday – 2 p.m. | LIVE STATS

Twitter: @LaSalleBase   #LaSalleBASE

EXPLORERS COME BACK TO BEAT HORNETS
Trailing 2-1, La Salle scored four runs in the seventh inning and another in the eighth to overcome Delaware State for a 6-4 home victory on Tuesday. Junior Brett Simon hit the go-ahead two-run double to spark the four-run seventh. Simon and senior Chase Arnold each had three hits in the game, while freshman Tommy Toal was 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Sophomore Sebastian Martinez (2-0) earned the win, while senior Austin Constantini recorded his third save of the year.

RAY AND FASO TAKE BIG 5 WEEKLY HONORS
Sophomore Jackson Ray and junior Ben Faso took home Philadelphia Big 5 weekly accolades on Monday. Ray was named Pitcher of the Week, while Faso garnered Player of the Week status. Ray threw 6.1 scoreless innings while surrendering just one hit with three strikeouts in a 1-0 shutout victory at Rutgers on Saturday. Faso hit .471 with four RBIs and two runs for the week and drove in the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of Saturday's win over the Scarlet Knights.

FASO ETCHES NAME IN RECORD BOOKS
Faso's 16-game hitting streak came to an end on Tuesday, a stretch that lasted nearly a month, beginning back on March 10 at Missouri. His streak ranks fifth in program history, tying Brendan Norton, who also had a 16-game hit streak during the 2010 season. Faso has hit safely in 25 of the Explorers' 30 games so far this season.

STAT STUFFERS
The Explorers have won four of their last six games, including each of their last two home games. They rank fourth in the Atlantic 10 Conference in hits with 277 on the season, averaging over nine hits per game. On the mound, La Salle is fifth in both shutouts (2) and strikeouts per nine innings (8.3).

Faso leads the A-10 with 1.59 hits per game, which ranks 24th in the nation, and he is second in the conference with 46 hits. He also ranks second in batting average (.368) and seventh in RBIs (26). Constantini remains the toughest to strike out in the A-10 with a 17.6 at-bat per strikeout average, ranking 14th nationally. The shortstop is also sixth in the A-10 in both hits (42) and batting average (.341) and is sixth with a .434 on-base percentage. Sophomore Matt Holt is sixth in the league with a 4.6 strikeout-to-walk ratio, while freshman Colin Kennedy is eighth in strikeouts per nine innings with a 10.02 average.

PITCHING PROSPECTS
Ray has been La Salle's top starting pitcher thus far in 2018 and will open the series with a 1-1 record, 3.82 ERA and 23 strikeouts over 30.2 innings. Kennedy is expected to follow, entering with a team-high 36 strikeouts over 32.1 innings of work. Holt (1-4) has made six starts and has also made two relief appearances, including 2.2 hitless innings of relief with five strikeouts in the shutout win over Rutgers in his last appearance.

SCOUTING THE RAMS
Fordham enters the weekend fresh off a doubleheader split with Siena on Wednesday. The Rams won the first game, 8-7, before dropping the second, 5-3. Fordham and La Salle have played two common opponents, with the Rams falling to Wagner and taking two of three games from Manhattan, both of whom defeated the Explorers. The Rams are 8-4-1 on the road and 9-3 in their last 12 games.

As a team, Fordham leads the nation in stolen bases with over 3.5 per game and is second in the A-10 with a .281 batting average. Jake MacKenzie leads the team with 27 RBIs, 23 runs and a .545 slugging percentage while batting an even .300. Billy Godrick is hitting a team-high .301 with a .407 on-base percentage. Reiss Knehr (3-2, 2.88 ERA) is expected to start Friday, while Ben Greenberg (4-1, 1.34 ERA) is projected for Saturday. Fordham leads the A-10 in strikeouts led by Sunday's projected starter Anthony DiMeglio (4-0, 3.86 ERA), who has 53 through 39.2 innings.