GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Gabe Rappa hurled six strong innings and La Salle held on to beat Furman, 5-4, in baseball action Saturday afternoon at Latham Stadium.

The win evened the series at a game apiece heading into Sunday's 1:00 finale.

After Rappa (1-0) yielded a two-run home run to Furman's Trent Alley in the bottom of the first inning, the Penns Grove, N.J., product blanked the Paladins over the next 5 2/3 innings before departing with a 5-2 lead.  The freshman left-hander allowed five hits and a walk while striking out five, including the final batter he face to end the sixth inning.

Rappa's replacement, Jordan Morales, worked the last three innings to notch the save, ending the game by striking out Dax Roper on three pitches with two runners on base.

Rappa and Morales combined to end the final four frames with strikeouts.

The Explorers tied the game at 2-2 in the third against Paladin freshman starting pitcher Stone Simmons, getting a two-out Nick O'Day RBI double and run-scoring single by Elijah Davidson.  

An inning later La Salle took the lead for good after David Smith singled down the left field line and advanced to third base on the play following an errant throw to second base by Paladin left-fielder Blake Brady.  He then scored on a ground out by Alfonse Sadallah.

The Explorers made it 5-2 with a pair of runs, one of which was unearned, in the sixth against Furman freshman reliever Matthew Marchal.

Furman tallied unearned runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pull within 5-4.

The Paladins' Jordan Starkes led off the ninth with an infield single and, following a sacrifice, Alley was intentionally walked.  Furman, however, couldn't capitalize as Morales retired Jared Mihalik on a fly ball and then struck out Roper to end the game.

The Explorers finished the contest with 10 hits, led by Smith's 3-for-4 performance.

Paced by Alley, who went 2-for-3 with three RBI, Furman registered seven hits.

The loss was charged to Simmons (0-1), who surrendered three runs on seven hits in five innings of work.  He walked two and struck out three.

Paladin reliever Matt Lazzaro blanked La Salle over the final three frames, surrendering only one hit and a walk while striking out five.