PHILADELPHIA — Friday’s slate across the Philadelphia college baseball scene was defined by momentum swings, late-inning rallies, and a handful of missed opportunities as several local programs came up just short.
At Smithson Field, Saint Joseph’s let a late lead slip in a 9-6, 10-inning loss to George Mason. The Hawks showed resilience throughout, taking the lead twice behind the bats of Richard Beggy and Jason Janesko. Beggy opened the scoring with a solo home run and later delivered a go-ahead RBI single, while Janesko added a two-run homer as part of a three-run fourth inning.
Saint Joseph’s carried a 6-4 lead into the eighth before George Mason responded with a game-tying, two-run pinch-hit home run. The Hawks threatened in the ninth, loading the bases with two outs, but couldn’t push across the winning run. In the 10th, a two-out, three-run homer by the Patriots proved decisive.
Across town, La Salle found itself chasing early and never fully recovering in a 9-7 loss to Fordham, despite a historic performance from Alec Welshans. The slugger hit three home runs — a three-run shot in the fourth, a solo homer in the sixth, and a two-run blast in the eighth — driving in six runs.
Fordham built a 7-0 lead through four innings, forcing La Salle into comeback mode. Welshans nearly brought the Explorers all the way back, trimming the deficit to two runs late, but the early damage proved too much. Carter Groen added a ninth-inning home run, and Chase Swain collected three hits in the loss.
On the Main Line, Villanova controlled the early stages before a single inning unraveled everything in a 9-4 loss to Creighton. The Wildcats jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning behind run-scoring singles from Austin Lemon and John Freitag, and starting pitcher JP Podgorski delivered four scoreless innings to set the tone.
But the game flipped in the seventh. Creighton erupted for seven runs in the inning, using a string of base hits and capitalizing on a Villanova error to take control. The Bluejays added two more runs in the ninth to seal the comeback.
Villanova’s defense provided a highlight earlier in the game when freshman Larry Hotaling turned an unassisted double play with runners on the corners, but it wasn’t enough to withstand the late surge.
Meanwhile, Penn also found itself on the wrong end of a close game, falling 8-6 to Princeton at Clarke Field.
The Quakers grabbed an early lead, but Princeton answered with a two-run home run in the fourth and continued to build separation in the middle innings. Penn chipped away late, scoring twice in the ninth and loading the bases with one out, bringing the tying run to the plate. But Princeton reliever Justin Kim recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the threat.
Six Penn hitters recorded multi-hit games, with Nick Spaventa driving in two runs to pace the offense.
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