PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Junior Ben Faso drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth inning, pushing his hit streak to 15 straight games and giving the La Salle University baseball team a 1-0 win at Rutgers Saturday afternoon. Sophomores Jackson Ray and Matt Holt combined for a one-hit shutout on the mound.
 
Faso's 15-game hitting streak is the sixth longest in program history. Fittingly, he kept the streak alive with what turned out to be the game-winning hit in the ninth.
 
It was the second combined shutout of the season for Ray and Holt, who also teamed up for a shutout in La Salle's 2-0 win over Sacred Heart on March 18.
 
Ray made his first appearance since returning from injury and was brilliant over 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while striking out three. Meanwhile, Holt (1-4) entered in the seventh inning and matched his season high with five strikeouts over 2.2 hitless innings, retiring eight of the nine batters he faced to notch his first win of the year.
 
In the ninth, senior Austin Constantini hit a leadoff double and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Tommy Toal. After Rutgers took out starting pitcher Harry Rutkowski (4-1), Faso delivered an RBI single up the middle to bring home Constantini for the go-ahead run.
 
Holt sealed the victory in the bottom of the ninth by striking out the side.
 
It was the sixth road win of the season for the Explorers, already matching their total from last season. La Salle (8-20) has won three of its last four games, including two on the road.
 
The Explorers will look for their first series win of the season when they wrap up the three-game set at Rutgers on Sunday, with first pitch set for 1 p.m.