PHILADELPHIA – Visiting Xavier split an Atlantic 10 baseball doubleheader with La Salle on Saturday at Hank DeVincent Field. XU won the opener 8-6, but lost game two 5-2.

Xavier (12-26, 4-7 A-10) has now won eight of its last nine games against La Salle (16-19-2, 3-11 A-10) over the last four seasons. In fact, the Explorers victory in Saturday’s final game broke a stretch of eight straight wins by the Musketeers in the series.

In the opener, junior Jay Johnson provided the spark for the Musketeer offense as he was 3-for-4 in the leadoff spot while tallying a stolen base and three runs scored.

Overall, Xavier had 11 hits in game one including two each by senior Alec Moss and sophomore Steve Sakosits.

Freshman Bill Konecny earned his third straight win after allowing just one earned run over 4.0 innings pitched. The native of nearby Downingtown, Pa. scattered eight hits while striking out two Explorer batters.

Classmate Tim Beaver followed in relief and struck out two in 1.1 innings before giving way to fellow freshman Mike Creevy who earned his fifth save of the year after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings.

Xavier pulled out to a 2-0 lead after a pair of runs by Johnson in the first and third innings before the homestanding Explorers exploded for five runs, four unearned, on five hits in the fourth inning to gain a 5-2 advantage.

The Musketeers rebounded with five runs of their own in the fifth as pinch hitter Eric Armstrong led the way with a two RBI single to left and a run scored in the rally to help XU take a 7-5 lead en route to an 8-6 victory.

In game two, Moss was the only Musketeer with at least two hits as each team had just five hits in the tightly played game. Moss finished at 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored to extend his hitting streak to nine games.

XU freshman Dan Graham was credited with the loss after striking out three batters while allowing four runs on three hits over 4.1 innings pitched.

Xavier and La Salle will conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a nine-inning game at 1 p.m.