Arlington, VA – La Salle scored the final seven runs of the game unanswered and received a lockdown bullpen effort to hold the lead in an 8-4 victory over George Washington in the series finale Sunday afternoon.
The Explores improve to 14-14 (3-6 in Atlantic 10 Conference play) as the season eclipses the halfway point in the regular season schedule.
Kosei Suzuki stayed hot and hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the top of the seventh as La Salle completed the rally after once trailing, 3-0, and 4-1, entering the top of the fifth.
Hudson Narke and
Titus Shay combined to throw five scoreless out of the bullpen as George Washington did not score again after the bottom of the fourth.
Nico Amecangelo went 3-for-4 for the Explorers and tied the game with a bases-loaded RBI single in the sixth, knotting things up at four apiece. Amecangelo also had a pair of doubles in the win.
The momentum carried over into the seventh, as Swain – who also tallied three hits on the afternoon – ledoff the inning with a single and Suzuki brought him home with his second homer of the season. The Saitama, Japan, native also homered in a win over Davidson last Saturday and has nine hits – four for extra bases – in his last eight games.
Later in the inning,
Ryan Perez kept the line moving with a double and scored on a single from
Alec Welshans to make it 7-4.
The Explorers added insurance from the first two batters in the eighth.
Jayden Novak ledoff the inning with a double down the third base line and scored when next batter
Daniel Perez bunted, reached safely, and got into a rundown to allow the run to score, making it 8-4.
Titus Shay allowed his first hits of the season but shut George Washington down in the eighth and ninth to lockdown the win. Shay has now allowed just two hits in 14 2/3 innings pitched this season, striking out 20 and allowing just one run for a 0.61 ERA.
Narke entered the game to start the fifth inning in relief of starter
Kross Howarth and turned in three scoreless innings with a strikeout to allow the Explorers' offense the opportunity to overturn the scoreboard.
After George Washington raced out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning, La Salle chipped away in the fourth when
Rueben Livingston hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
George Washington responded and got the run back in the bottom of the fourth, but La Salle cut the deficit to one with a pair of runs in the fifth. Welshans scored on a wild pitch and
Daniel Perez brough home Amecangelo, who doubled earlier in the inning, with a SAC fly.
La Salle heads back up north to Pennsylvania for five consecutive games this upcoming week, Tuesday-Saturday. The Explorers play a midweek contest at Bucknell Tuesday at 3:30 pm before returning home for four straight at Hank DeVincent Field. The homestand commences with a Wednesday game against Iona at 3:00 pm before welcoming in Richmond for a weekend A-10 series, Thursday-Saturday.
