Philadelphia, Pa.-- Senior AJ Wright (Cherry Hill, N.J.) led the way with a pair of RBI in a 9-5 loss on Tuesday to the Explorers. UMBC got out to an early 2-1 lead, but La Salle ripped off seven unanswered runs to take the lead and hold off the Retriever comeback.

UMBC falls to 20-22 on the year while the Explorers improve to 23-23.

La Salle got out to an early lead with a solo home run in the second before the Retrievers answered the next half inning. Jack Finn (Ellicott City, Md./Rider) reached on a double and would later score on an Andres Machado (Coral Gables, Fla.) RBI single to tie it. Wright would bring him around on an RBI double to give UMBC the lead, 2-1.

However, that lead would be short lived, as the Explorers scored four in their half of the third, adding three in the fourth to take a commanding 8-2 lead. The Retrievers cut the deficit with two runs in the seventh. Machado scored thanks to an AJ Wright sacrifice fly, with Christian Torres (Miami, Fla.) singling home Blaze O'Saben (Warrenton, Va.) to cut the deficit to 8-4.

After La Salle added a solo home run in the eighth, UMBC tried to mount a comeback in the ninth. Ryan Brown (Hagerstown, Md./St. James/Charleston Southern) ripped his first home run as a Retriever, a solo shot, to cut it to 9-5. However, the Explorers would shut the door the rest of the way, holding on for a 9-5 win.

Brown, Finn and Machado each had two hits with Wright driving in two of the five runs.

The Retrievers will return home to take on Georgetown tomorrow night at 6 p.m.