PHILADELPHIA -- Two days after carrying a no-hitter deep into Sunday’s game against Davidson, the Explorers returned to the mound Tuesday and delivered a different kind of performance — one that required more resilience than precision, but ended the same way.
Scoreless.
Behind a five-pitcher effort that combined for nine shutout innings, La Salle worked through constant traffic and came away with an 8-0 victory over Penn at Meiklejohn Stadium – Tommy Lasorda Field.
It wasn’t as clean as a no-hit bid. It may have been more telling.
Shawn Karpaitis and Chase Forester set the tone early, combining to carry a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Penn broke through with a leadoff single — its first hit after La Salle had strung together 15 consecutive hitless innings dating back to Saturday.
From there, the game shifted.
Penn put pressure on nearly every inning, drawing 11 walks and placing runners in scoring position repeatedly. But each time the Quakers threatened, La Salle’s bullpen responded.
Connor Collora delivered the most critical outs of the afternoon, stranding the bases loaded in both the fifth and sixth innings with the Explorers holding a 4-0 lead. Lucas Edwards followed by escaping further trouble in the eighth, striking out the final two hitters with two runners in scoring position. Matt DeStefanis closed it out by leaving the bases loaded in the ninth, sealing the shutout.
In total, La Salle allowed just three hits while striking out seven and stranding 14 Penn runners.
The offense, meanwhile, provided more than enough support.
Justin Szestowicki opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the third, but it was Daniel Perez who created separation an inning later. With two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth, Perez drove a double into right field to clear the bases, extending the lead to 4-0 and reaching the 100-RBI mark for his career.
La Salle added to its cushion in the seventh, capitalizing on defensive miscues. With the bases loaded, Ryan Perez reached on an infield error that allowed two runs to score. Austin Rhue delivered the final blow in the ninth, lining a two-run single to the opposite field.
Carter Groen chipped in with a pair of hits and scored twice as part of a balanced attack that capitalized on opportunities throughout.
For Penn (7-11), the opportunities were there — but the breakthrough never came. Ryan Taylor, Jack Warner, and Gavin Collins accounted for the Quakers’ three hits, while freshman Jay Secretarski reached base four times via walk.
Penn used seven pitchers in the effort, with Thomas Egbert providing one of the few clean innings in the fifth.
But the story of the afternoon belonged to La Salle’s ability to bend without breaking.
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