Baseball | February 27, 2020
PHILADELPHIA – After sweeping its home-opening series this past weekend, the La Salle University baseball team will head down south for three round robin games at Wake Forest. The Explorers will play the host Demon Deacons Friday, Sacred Heart Saturday and Brown Sunday.
WEEKEND INFO – Games held at Wake Forest University
EXPLORERS SWEEP HOFSTRA
- La Salle picked up its first three-game series sweep since 2013 this weekend, taking down Hofstra, 4-3, 14-3 and 2-0.
- Senior Ryan Guckin hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth in game one of Saturday's doubleheader.
- The Explorers then exploded for 14 runs in game two led by a 4-for-6 performance by sophomore Tatem Levins and a two-run home run by junior Jack Cucinotta.
- On Sunday, sophomore Manny Corporan and freshman Jordan Morales combined for a four-hit shutout and sophomore Russ Mulhall homered as La Salle completed the sweep.
CORPORAN & LEVINS GET PHILLY HONORS
- Manny Corporan was named Philadelphia Big 5 Pitcher of the Week for his efforts in Sunday's win.
- The right-hander allowed only three hits over seven scoreless innings with five strikeouts in his first win in Blue and Gold.
- The Philadelphia Baseball Review also named Corporan Pitcher of the Week by, while Tatem Levins was dubbed Player of the Week.
- Levins hit .417 over the three games with five RBI and two doubles, including four hits, four RBI and two doubles in game two Saturday.
SCOUTING WAKE FOREST
- Wake Forest was nationally ranked for the first two weeks of the season and is currently receiving votes in the NCBWA poll.
- The Demon Deacons (3-5) started the year 3-1 but have since lost four in a row, getting swept by Long Beach State and falling to Appalachian State at home on Wednesday, 11-9.
- Friday pitcher Ryan Cusick has a 3.09 ERA and 19 strikeouts through two starts, while William Simoneit leads the offense with a .381 batting average and a .581 on-base percentage.
SCOUTING SACRED HEART
- Sacred Heart enters the weekend at 1-3 overall, having played only Atlantic 10 opponents VCU and Fordham so far. The Pioneers will play Brown on Friday.
- The Pioneers dropped a 5-4 decision at defending A-10 champion Fordham on Tuesday. Over the weekend, Sacred Heart took one of three games at VCU, a team that went 39-19 and 19-5 in the A-10 last season.
- Jake Frasca (.412 AVG) and Justin Jordan (.381 AVG) pace the Pioneers on offense, while the pitching staff owns a team ERA of 4.62.
SCOUTING BROWN
- Brown also enters the weekend with a 1-3 overall record, playing round robin games at USC – Upstate last weekend.
- The Bears split a doubleheader with Wofford on Saturday, winning game one in seven innings, 3-2. Brown will take on Sacred Heart Friday and Wake Forest in a doubleheader on Saturday.
- Joe Lomuscio leads the team with a .389 batting average and a .667 slugging percentage, but the Brown pitching staff has struggled to the tune of a 7.84 team ERA.
