PHILADELPHIA -- On a warm March afternoon at Hank DeVincent Field, the bats never cooled off for La Salle.
Behind a record-tying performance from Carter Groen and an early offensive surge, the Explorers held off Lafayette for a 16–11 victory Wednesday, piling up 15 runs through the first five innings before surviving a late push from the Leopards.
Groen matched the La Salle single-game program record with eight RBIs, joining Mike Fuchs (1999) and Josh Savakinus (2015) atop the school’s record book. The redshirt sophomore finished 3-for-6 with a single, double, and grand slam, tying the record by the fourth inning as La Salle built a lead it would never relinquish.
The win snapped a five-game losing streak for the Explorers, who improved to 9–7, while Lafayette fell to 1–10.
The afternoon began as a back-and-forth affair.
Lafayette jumped in front with two runs in the first inning, but La Salle quickly answered with three in the bottom half, capitalizing on a pair of Leopard errors. Groen drove in the first run before Justin Szestowicki and Alec Welshans each added RBIs to give the Explorers a 3–2 lead.
Lafayette reclaimed the advantage with two more runs in the second inning, but Groen delivered the game’s defining swing moments later. With one out and the bases loaded, the La Salle slugger launched a grand slam that flipped the game and put the Explorers ahead for good.
La Salle continued to pour it on.
Groen struck again in the fourth inning, ripping a three-run double that pushed the lead to 13–6. An inning later, Daniel Perez added a two-run single, stretching the margin to 15–6 and giving the Explorers their largest lead of the day.
That cushion proved necessary.
Lafayette mounted a rally with four runs in the sixth inning, trimming the deficit to 15–10 and forcing La Salle to reach deeper into its bullpen.
Freshman Lucas Edwards, a Delran, N.J., native, helped steady things. Edwards delivered two scoreless innings with four strikeouts, quieting Lafayette’s momentum and keeping the Explorers comfortably in front.
La Salle added an insurance run in the seventh when Jayden Novak scored on a wild pitch, extending the lead to 16–10.
Lafayette scratched across one more run in the ninth, but Shawn Karpaitis closed the door to seal the victory.
In a designated bullpen day for La Salle, Marco Levari (1–1) earned the win, pitching a season-high three innings and striking out two. He also worked a scoreless third inning after the Explorers grabbed the lead for good.
The offensive explosion came early, with La Salle scoring 15 of its 16 runs between the first and fifth innings in a game that featured 27 combined runs and 19 hits.
Groen’s historic afternoon continued a strong start to the season for the redshirt sophomore, who now leads the Explorers with 27 RBIs.
La Salle now turns its attention to Atlantic 10 play this weekend with a road series against VCU, beginning Friday afternoon in Richmond.
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