The GW baseball team ended a disappointing three-game series on a high note against La Salle Sunday, a day after dropping a critical doubleheader in their chase for the Atlantic 10 postseason.

Despite the 14-13 and 12-5 losses on Saturday in Philadelphia, the Colonials were able to win the third and final game 8-4. Head Coach Steve Mrowka said the victory showed a boost in confidence for the Colonials (25-26, 10-13), who are tied with Dayton and Fordham for seventh in the A-10. Six teams make the conference tournament.

“We hit the ball very well today and were able to get a little bit of a lead and stayed on top most of the game,” he said. “When we do that, we play with a little more confidence. “

The Colonials never fell behind in Sunday’s game and avoided playing catch-up like they had to on Saturday, Mrowka said. GW stayed neck-and-neck with the Explorers until the eighth inning, when they broke a 4-4 tie with a run by senior Andrew Abokhair and then tallied on three insurance runs in the ninth.

GW got three of their runs in the first inning with senior Charlie Kruer’s 12th homerun of the season. He’s now tied for fourth all-time at GW with 38 homers.

The game also marked the return of freshman pitcher Eric Cantrell. Cantrell, sidelined for a broken jaw due to a line drive to the face two weeks ago against Saint Louis, earned his fifth win with nine strikeouts and just one earned run.

Kruer praised Cantrell’s work on the mound, but also noted the Colonials’ crucial losses Saturday.

“The weekend was pretty disappointing overall,” he said. “We should have won those two games yesterday.”