PHILADELPHIA – Senior Ryan Guckin hit a walk-off single in game one as the La Salle University baseball team swept a Saturday doubleheader over Hofstra in its home opener at Hank DeVincent Field. The Explorers came back to win game one, 4-3, and dominated game two, 14-3.
 
GAME 1 – La Salle 4, Hofstra 3

• Hofstra jumped on top right away, scoring three runs on four hits in the first inning.
• After the first, starting pitcher Colin Scanlon settled in, allowing only one more hit over the next six innings, holding the Pride to three runs.
• Sophomore Ross Mulhall got La Salle on the board in the sixth inning on an RBI single, bringing home Guckin, and then a throwing error on the play allowed freshman David Smith to score to make it 3-2.
• Junior Colin Kennedy came on in relief of Scanlon in the seventh and shut Hofstra down over the final two innings, not allowing a single hit.
• Trailing by a run in the ninth, junior Alfonse Sadallah and freshman Elijah Dickerson led off with back-to-back single. In the next at-bat, Sadallah tied the game as he scored on a wild pitch.
• With one out, Guckin stepped to the plate and worked a length count until he shot an infield single off the pitcher to bring in Dickerson for the winning run.

GAME 2 – La Salle 14, Hofstra 3

• Hofstra got off to a quick start again in the second game on an Austin Gautheier home run and a run on a wild pitch, taking a 2-0 lead.
• The Explorers came back within one in the bottom half of the first though as sophomore Tatem Levins scored on a two-out throwing error.
• The Pride pushed their advantage back to two on a single in the second, but then La Salle's offense caught fire.
• Sadallah drove in Mulhall and freshman Dylan Maria on a single and later came in to score on a single by Levins to give La Salle a 4-3 lead. Dickerson then scored on a fielder's choice hit by redshirt freshman Bubba Weigel to make it a two-run advantage.
• Still in the second, junior Jack Cucinotta launched a two-run homer to left center to open things up, 7-3.
• Freshman Connor Coolahan added to the lead with an RBI bunt single in the third. The Explorers then added three more runs in the fifth on an error, a sacrifice fly by Dickerson and an RBI groundout by Weigel.
• In the sixth, Levins ripped a bases-clearing, three-run double down the right field line to cap off the scoring with a 14-3 lead.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• In game one, Scanlon struck out nine over seven innings, while Kennedy (W, 1-0) struck out five over two innings.
• Dickerson went 3-for-5 in the first game, while Guckin and Sadallah each had two hits.
• Freshman Gabe Rappa (W, 2-0) earned his second straight win on the mound in game two, scattering three runs over five innings with six strikeouts.
• Levins had himself a game in the second contest, going 4-for-6 with four RBI and a run. Sadallah and Coolahan each notched two hits apiece in game two as well.

UP NEXT

• La Salle will look to sweep the series against Hofstra in game three on Sunday at noon.