GREENVILLE, S.C. – Redshirt freshman Bubba Weigel hit a home run in his first collegiate at-bat, but the La Salle University baseball team's late comeback attempt fell short in its season opener at Furman on Friday, 7-5.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• In just the second pitch that he saw, Weigel blasted a solo shot to left field in his first-ever plate appearance to put the Explorers in front first, 1-0, in the second inning.
• Starting pitcher Colin Scanlon was locked in early for the Explorers, striking out six and allowing only one baserunner through the first four innings.
• Things turned in the fifth inning, however, as Furman took advantage of an error and scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the fifth to jump ahead.
• The Paladins continued the scoring in the sixth and worked three runs off four hits to suddenly hold a 6-1 advantage.
• Freshman Elijah Dickerson, who robbed a home run earlier in the game, delivered an RBI single to score senior Ryan Guckin in the seventh for the first hit of his La Salle career, cutting the deficit to four.
• Furman added another run on an RBI single by Jake Crawford in the 8th to extend the lead to 7-2 heading to the ninth.
• The Explorers rallied for three runs in the ninth as freshman David Smith drove in Weigel and sophomore Ross Mulhall on a single to center, followed by an RBI double by junior Alfonse Sadallah. But the comeback bid came up just short.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Weigel finished 2-for-4 with the homer and two runs in his debut, while Guckin and Mulhall each had two hits apiece as well.
• Scanlon allowed just three hits while fanning six over 4.2 innings, and all three runs against him were unearned.

UP NEXT

• Game two of the series is set for Saturday, with first pitch at 1 p.m.