Philadelphia, PA – For the second straight day, La Salle's bullpen combined to spin a gem and the Explorers' offense took care of the rest in an 8-0 defeat of Iona Wednesday afternoon in New Rochelle, N.Y.
With the win, La Salle reaches the 20-win plateau for the third time under head coach
David Miller. Excluding the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, Miller has reached the mark in three out of his four seasons coaching at 20
th and Olney.
Dante Edwardi,
Shawn Karpaitis,
Emilio Rodriguez,
Connor Collora, and
Bruce Wadiak combined on the bullpen game shutout for La Salle. The staff scattered eight hits and struck out seven.
Rodriguez was credit with the victory, going two scoreless with a strikeout.
Edwardi got the start and struck out a pair in three innings. Karpaitis tossed a scoreless fourth leading to Rodirguez's two innings.
Collora entered the game in the seventh into a bases-loaded, no out jam, and retired the next three batters in order – striking out the first two – to preserve the shutout.
Wadiak finished the game, allowing just one hit and striking out two in the eighth and ninth innings.
The offense struck for three in the third, and that was all that La Salle would need.
Szestowicki got things started with a two-run triple and scored when next batter Groen singled him home. Szestowicki added another RBI in the fourth with a single, part of a two-run inning that also featured
Ryan Perez scoring on a wild pitch. The Explorers' shortstop added his fourth RBI with another run-scoring single in the sixth.
Groen added to his team and Atlantic 10 Conference-leading RBI count (63) with a two-run single to add insurance in the eighth.
La Salle heads out west to face Dayton in Ohio this weekend, with Friday's game slated to start at 3:00 pm, Saturday at 1:00, and Sunday at 12 noon.
