Baseball | March 31, 2021

PHILADELPHIA – Winners of six of their last seven games, the La Salle University baseball team will take a four-game winning streak into its four-game series at Penn this week. Action kicks off Thursday at 3 p.m.

THE MATCHUPS (at Penn – 4 Games)

• Game 1: Thurs., 3 p.m. – Gabe Rappa vs. TBA
• Game 2: Fri., 3 p.m. – Colin Scanlon vs. TBA
• Game 3: Sat., 12 p.m. – Frank Elissalt vs. TBA
• Game 4: Sat., 2:30 p.m. – Nick Hammer vs. TBA

FRESH OFF A PERFECT WEEK

• The Explorers went a perfect 3-0 last week with road wins over Mount St. Mary's (Md.) last Tuesday and a doubleheader over St. Bonaventure on Saturday in non-conference action.
• In the 8-4 win at Mount St. Mary's, redshirt sophomore Bubba Weigel went 2-for-4 with his first home run of the season, while freshman pitcher Nick Hammer threw 7.2 innings to improve to 2-0.
• Against the Bonnies on Saturday, the Explorers swept the road series with a 6-3 win in game one and a 4-1 victory in game two. Senior Colin Scanlon (W, 2-2) struck out seven while allowing three runs over 6.1 innings in the first game before freshman Frank Elissalt (W, 3-0) fanned nine while scattering one run on three hits in game two.

HEATING UP AT THE RIGHT TIME

• The Explorers are 4-0 over their last four road games behind a strong balance on the mound and at the plate.
• Sophomore Elijah Dickerson has come on strong over this winning stretch, batting .438 with a whopping .813 slugging percentage, four RBI, three runs and a homer.
• Elissalt has been consistently setting batters down with 19 strikeouts over his last two starts in which he is 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA. He's fourth in the Atlantic 10 with 36 strikeouts on the year.
• Graduate student Ryan Guckin is on a six-game hitting streak and is batting .300 over the four-game win streak, while senior Alfonse Sadallah is hitting .400 with a .600 on-base percentage over the stretch. Junior Tatem Levins has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games.

SCOUTING PENN

• The Quakers just started their season as the Ivy League eased its COVID restrictions to let Penn play local games starting March 27.
• Penn is 0-3 after getting swept against Villanova this past weekend. The Quakers lost a Saturday doubleheader, 3-0 and 2-3 at home. They then fell at Villanova 3-2 on Sunday.
• Jackson Petersen went 3-for-7 in the series, while Eduardo Malinowski was 4-for-12 with a homer and two RBI. On the mound, Joe Miller (0-1, 4.91 ERA), Sam Bennett (0-1, 2.25 ERA) and Bryce Mangene (2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R) got the starts for Penn.