PHILADELPHIA - Senior Connor Hinchliffe tied a school record by recording his 13th save of the season as the La Salle University baseball team overcame a 3-0 deficit to defeat Rhode Island, 7-5, in the opener of a three-game series on Thursday from Hank DeVincent Field.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Sophomore Colin Scanlon got the start on the mound and struck out three over the first two innings, including back-to-back punchouts in the second to keep things scoreless.
• Rhody's Brett McManus led off the third inning with a solo home run, however, and a two-run homer by Xavier Vargas later gave the Rams a 3-0 lead.
• La Salle answered right back in the third though, as freshmen Nick O'Day and Nick Di Vietro led off with back-to-back singles. Senior Peyton Sorrels made it three straight with a single just over the first baseman's glove to score O'Day to make it 3-1.
• Senior Ben Faso continued the hitting in the third with a deep double off the wall in right center, tying the game up as Di Vietro and Sorrels crossed the plate. Freshman Tatem Levins made it five straight hits for the Explorers, delivering another double to right center to bring in the go-ahead run in Faso, providing a 4-3 lead.
• Junior Matt Holt entered in relief in the fourth for the Explorers after the Rams loaded the bases with no outs. Rhody tied the game with an unearned run on a fielder's choice, but Holt left two runners stranded to escape with minimal damage with the score knotted at four apiece.
• The Rams threatened in the sixth, loading the bases again, but junior Jackson Ray came on in relief out of the bullpen and got the final batter to fly out to center to end the threat and prevent any damage.
• Junior Ryan Guckin led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and with two outs, freshman Nick O'Day came through with a two-run bomb over the right field wall to give the Explorers a 6-4 lead.
• After Ray fired a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh, senior Kevin McGowan drove in an insurance run in Sorrels on a double down the right field line to make it 7-4 Explorers. The Rams got one run back in the eighth, but sophomore Colin Kennedy ended the frame with a strikeout swinging.
• Hinchliffe came on for the ninth and cruised with a flawless inning as he made history, closing out his 13th save of the year.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Hinchliffe tied MLB draftee Pat Christensen ('13) for the single season saves record, who previously accomplished the feat in 2011.
• With 25 wins this season, the 2019 La Salle squad is the third winningest team in program history.
• O'Day, Levins and McGowan each had two hits apiece, while Sorrels scored twice.
• Scanlon finished with five strikeouts, while Holt and Ray combined for 4.1 shutout innings of relief.

UP NEXT

• The Explorers and Rams will play game two of their series at 1 p.m. on Friday.