New Kingstown, R.I. -- La Salle took defending Atlantic 10 champion Rhode Island to extra innings after an impressive middle-innings rally but ultimately bowed out in the bottom of the 12th in a 7-6 loss Friday afternoon in the first game of the weekend series.
Trailing, 5-1, entering the fifth inning, La Salle scored five consecutive runs between the fifth and sixth innings to claim a 6-5 lead. Rhode Island struck to tie with a leadoff home run in the ninth inning, and then walked it off on a passed ball with one out in the bottom of the 12th.
Chase Swain continued his monster week, going 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBI to lead La Salle at the plate.
Rueben Livingston also homered with a pair of hits.
Ryan Albin,
Jayden Novak, and
Nico Amecangelo also contributed RBI for La Salle.
On the mound, La Salle pitchers -
Kross Howarth,
Owen MacDonnell,
Titus Shay, and
Josh Beck -- scattered 10 hits across the 12 innings, striking out a combined 13.
Livingston opened up the afternoon's scoring with a solo homer to left field in the top of the second, his sixth of the season.
Rhode Island answered with one to tie in the bottom half of the second, and then put up four in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead.
La Salle clawed back in the fifth, though, as Albin tripled home
Daniel Perez, and next batter Swain crushed a two-run homer to left to cut the deficit to one, 5-4.
The Explorers then flipped the scoreboard in the sixth, as Amecangelo came up as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded and got the run in on a fielder's choice to tie the game at five. Next batter Novak singled home Livingston to give the Explorers the lead back, 6-5.
MacDonnell (2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K) posted a shutdown inning after being given the lead -- his second scoreless frame of the day -- and handed the ball off to Shay for a nine out save attempt in the top of the seventh. Shay (3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K) posted scoreless seventh and eigth innings before allowing only his third run of the entire season in the top of the ninth. The righty limited the damage and shut the door for the final three outs in the ninth to send it to extras and has now struck out 28 batters through 20 2/3 innings pitched on the season with a 1.31 ERA.
After trading zeros in the 10th and 11th, Rhode Island's first three batters of the 12th reached base to load them up before a passed ball allowed the winning run to come home.
The Explorers look to even up the series tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch set for 1:00 pm.
