BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Despite leading by as many as three runs in the early going, the La Salle University baseball team suffered a 12-6 road defeat at LIU Brooklyn on Wednesday.
 
The Explorers posted double-digit hits for the 22nd time this season with 12. Junior Peyton Sorrels led the way with a career game, going 4-for-5 with a run.
 
La Salle scored the first run of the game and again took leads in the fourth and fifth innings, but it was not enough, as the Blackbirds totaled 16 hits.
 
Senior Yan Carlo Rivera got the scoring started in the second inning with a double to right center that scored fellow senior Brian Dudeck for the opening run.
 
After LIU Brooklyn tied it in the third inning, La Salle took advantage of three Blackbird errors with three runs in the fourth. Senior Chase Arnold scored the go-ahead run on an RBI groundout by sophomore Dylan Evans. Dudeck scored on a throwing error trying to catch Rivera stealing, and then Rivera scored on a sacrifice fly by freshman Jack Cucinotta for a 4-1 lead.
 
However, the Blackbirds scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game once again, 4-4.
 
The back-and-forth battle continued in the fifth, as Dudeck drove in junior Ben Faso on an RBI single to center, putting La Salle back on top.
 
But LIU Brooklyn took its first lead of the day in the bottom of the fifth, headlined by an Edward Modica two-run home run that made it 7-5. The Blackbirds then added a run in the sixth, three more in the seventh and another in the eighth to extend their lead to 12-5.
 
In the ninth, Faso drove in Sorrels on an RBI groundout to make it a six-run game, but the deficit was too large to overcome.
 
Sophomore Niko Jenkins was strong over three innings as the starting pitcher, allowing only one run on three hits with three strikeouts. Rivera went 1-for-2 with two walks, a run and an RBI, while Arnold was 2-for-4 with a run. Dudeck went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and runs to his credit. Every starter reached base for the Explorers.
 
La Salle will return to Atlantic 10 action this weekend, starting a three-game series at Rhode Island on Friday. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.