WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The La Salle University baseball team was just five outs away from upsetting No. 24 Wake Forest on the road on Friday, but an eighth-inning grand slam pushed the Demon Deacons past the Explorers, 7-4.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Freshman Dylan Maria nearly led La Salle to the win with a go-ahead, two-run triple in the seventh inning before the grand slam for the Demon Deacons.
• Wake Forest jumped right ahead in the first inning on a two-run home run by Bobby Seymour with two outs.
• La Salle cut the deficit in half in the third inning as freshman David Smith doubled and then came in to score on an RBI single by sophomore Tatem Levins, making it 2-1.
• The Explorers then evened the score at two all in the fifth when freshman Elijah Dickerson hit an RBI double to left field to score fellow freshman Connor Coolahan.
• The Demon Deacons took the lead right back with a run on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the fifth, but junior Colin Kennedy retired the next batter to escape the inning without further damage.
• Coolahan led off the seventh inning with a hit by pitch, and after a sacrifice bunt by Smith and a walk by Dickerson, Maria ripped his first career triple to center field to give the Explorers their first lead of the game, 4-3.
• In the eighth, three of Wake Forest's first four batters all managed singles to load the bases for William Simoneit, who sent a 1-1 pitch over the wall for the slam.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Coolahan scored twice and added a stolen base, while Smith went 2-for-4 for La Salle.
• Starting pitcher Colin Scanlon struck out six while scattering three runs on four hits over 4.2 innings.

UP NEXT

• The Explorers will remain at Wake Forest for the remainder of the weekend, taking on Sacred Heart on the neutral field at 10 a.m. on Saturday.