PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's baseball team took an early lead and never looked back, topping La Salle, 5-1, at Hank DeVincent Field on Thursday afternoon.

Saint Joseph's (10-11 overall, 1-3 Atlantic 10) jumped out in front right away, plating three in the top of the first inning.  Matt Maul led off the game with a single before Liam Bendo and Charlie Concannon drew walks to load the bases.  After Maul was thrown out at home plate on a ball that got away from the catcher, James McConnon's groundout brought home Bendo to give the Hawks the lead.

Cole Stetzar then followed with his second home run in as many days to extend the margin to 3-0.

In the top of the fourth, Kadar Namey went deep with a solo shot to left to push the lead to 4-0.  An inning later, Concannon drew a two-out walk before McConnon singled and Stetzar walked to load the bases for Marc Giacalone, who was hit by a pitch to force in a run and make it 5-0.

La Salle (5-18 overall, 0-4 Atlantic 10) struck in the bottom of the fifth as Dillon Malandro led off with a double and came in to score on a single by Ben Faso.

The Explorers threatened in the ninth, putting two on with one out, but a pair of fielder's choices ended the ballgame and gave the Hawks the win.

Matt Kennedy earned the victory for SJU, tossing five innings and allowing one run on five hits.  Michael Jennings took the loss, allowing five runs on three hits and four walks in four and two-thirds innings.

The teams will continue the series on Friday afternoon.  First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.