Dayton, OH -- Rueben Livingston hit two home runs and La Salle out-hit Dayton, but the Explorers fell, 12-9, in Friday's series opener at Dayton.
Livingston hit a pair of solo home runs and scored three times to help lead an Explorer offense that topped the Flyers, 14-13, in the hits column.
Chase Swain had three hits with an RBI and run scored from the leadoff spot, while
Jayden Novak had a pair of hits and RBI and
Justin Szestowicki also had a pair of knocks with an RBI.
Daniel Perez was the third Explorer with two RBI courtesy of a two-run homer in the ninth.
Livingston's first home run of the day broke the ice and gave La Salle a 1-0 lead in the second inning, and the Explorers soon extended it to 2-0 on
Brendan Till's bunt that scored
Michael Olender. The Explorers would maintain the lead at 3-1 in the fourth on a run-scoring groundout from Swain.
Swain is riding a five-game hitting streak and is now hitting .371 on the season, good for fourth-best in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Swain is also in the top five for OBP (.488), OPS (1.116), runs scored (55).
Dayton rallied for a five-run fifth inning and never relented the lead, however. The Flyers scored 11 of their 12 runs between that fifth and seventh innings.
La Salle's bats never wavered, though.
Szestowicki hit a run-scoring double in the sixth and Novak delivered a two-run double in the seventh as the Explorers kept eating into the Dayton lead.
In his last seven games, Szestowicki is scorching-hot, hitting .382 (13-for-34) with seven extra base hits and 12 RBI, and has raised his batting average over 27 points to where it now stands at .275. Novak has also mounted an impressive week, as the Explorers' backstop is 5-for-12 with six RBI and three extra base hits through three games played this week.
Down to their last licks in the ninth, Livingston hit his second homer of the day to leadoff the inning and Perez hit a two-run shot with the Explorers down to their final strike.
The two teams continue their series tomorrow afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm.
