Xavier University Athletics
Xavier University
La Salle
Xavier Gets Back to Winning Ways over La Salle
05.11.07 | Baseball
May 11, 2007
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CINCINNATI - After a tough seven-game conference stretch, Xavier got back on the good side of the scoreboard as the Musketeers downed visiting La Salle, 5-4, in Atlantic 10 action on Friday afternoon at Hayden Field. The Blue and White used an RBI-single by freshman Drew Schmidt to take the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth and take game one of the series. With the win, XU is now 22-27 on the season and moves to 13-9 in the A-10, while the Explorers drop to 16-27 overall and 8-14 in conference action.
After a sacrifice fly by senior Andy Zellers plated the tying run in the eighth, Schmidt stepped to the plate with two outs and a runner on third. With the count full at 3-2, the freshman drove the next pitch back up the middle into centerfield to give Xavier its final lead of the day and the win.
The Musketeers struck first in the bottom half of the second as back to back singles by Robbie Kelley and Zellers put runners at first and second with two outs. The opportunity let Matt Waskerwitz capitalize on the situation as the senior drilled his first homerun of the season onto Victory Parkway to give XU the early 3-0 advantage.
La Salle would get a run back in the top of the fourth as a double by T.J. Chism allowed Dennis Burge to come around from first to score making it 3-1.
The Explorers would tie the game in the next inning with a two-run, four-hit effort that left the bases loaded before Xavier reliever Mark Janszen came in to stop the rally and maintain the tie ballgame.
La Salle would take the lead in the top of the eighth on a wild pitch before Schmidt's heroics gave the Blue and White two runs in the bottom half of the inning to claim the win.
Schmidt finished the afternoon 2-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, while Kelley and Neil Lindgren also went 2-for-4 at the plate. Kelley scored two of XU's five runs, while Waskerwitz ended the day 1-for-3 with his first homerun of the season.
Janszen picked up the win on the afternoon and he is now tied for the team lead with four wins on the season. The senior came in to provide 3.1 innings of solid relief and allowed just one run on two hits, while striking out three. Classmate Bill Konecny got the start for the Musketeers and went 4.2 innings. Konecny allowed three runs on eight hits but struck out three. Freshman Zac Richard entered to pick up his team-leading sixth save of the season as the rookie threw the ninth allowing just one hit with a strikeout.
The two teams will be back in action tomorrow afternoon as game two of the series will begin at 1:00 pm at Hayden Field. Xavier will have sophomore Charlie Leesman (4-2, 3.78 ERA) on the mound facing La Salle's Craig Muschko (1-1, 2.91 ERA).
