Grantham, PA – The No. 1 Messiah College Falcons (38-3) went 2-0 on Day One of the MAC Commonwealth Championship tournament, picking up a 5-2 win over No. 4 Stevenson University and then followed it up with an 8-3 win over No. 3 Hood College.
Courtney Allen was credited with both wins and moves to 21-0 on the season. In 12 innings of work, Allen, held her opponents to 10 total hits, allowing four runs. She struckout eight and walked three.
Offensively the Falcons were powered by
Becky Notte (5-7, 2 RBI), Allen (2-3, 2 RBI), and
Erin Cressman (2-5, 2 RBI).
Game Two – No. 1 Messiah 5, No. 4 Stevenson 1
Falcons collected 10 hits in their 5-1 win over the No. 4 Stevenson Mustangs to begin the MAC Commonwealth Championship tournament Saturday morning.
Erin Cressman became the Falcons' single season homerun leader with a solo dinger to center field in the fifth. The previous record was on-the-books since 2007 when Jessica DeBoer collected eight homeruns.
Starter
Courtney Allen gave up a leadoff walk to begin the game then the Mustangs laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runner to second. Allen worked her way out of the early jam with a groundout and a pop up in foul territory to end the first inning.
The Falcons attempted a two-out rally in the bottom of the frame but came up short.
In the bottom of the second the Falcons got on the board, scoring two runs on four hits.
Amber Bingaman,
Sydney Boreman, and
Haylee Anders each doubled in the frame, giving the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
Amanda Jones scored the Falcons' third run of the game after a sharp single to left field and a stolen base. In the next at-bat
Erin Cressman bunted her over to third and ended up safe at first when the ball was mishandled by the Mustangs. Jones scored on the play.
Stevenson responded in the top of the fourth, scoring a lone run on an RBI single from Naomi Fields.
The Falcons extended their lead in the bottom of the frame when
Carrie Fix singled through the left side. She ended up making her way all the way around to third when the Mustang's left fielder over threw her cutoff. In the next at-bat
Brooke Pompeo delivered the tally on a single to the right side, putting the Falcons ahead 4-1.
In the fifth,
Erin Cressman sent a bomb over the center field fence to give the Falcons a 5-1 lead. As mentioned previously, the round-tripper was her ninth of the season, a new program standard for single-season homeruns. She passed Jessica DeBoer '07 who held the record since 2007.
Madelyn Yannetti came into the game in the top of the ninth and closed things out with three up, three down to give the Falcons their first win of the MAC Commonwealth Championship tournament. Allen picked up the win and moved to 19-0 on the season. She went 6.0 innings, allowing just one run on four hits.
The No. 1 Falcons turnaround to play again at 3:00 p.m. They will take on the winner of No. 2 Widener and No. 3 Hood.
Game Four: No. 1 Messiah 8, No. 3 Hood 3
The Blazers were the first to push a few runs across the plate in Game Four when Ashley Fourcade hit a three-run home run to center, giving Hood a 3-0 lead after just 2.5 innings.
The Falcons responded in the bottom of the frame when Bingaman singled to left center, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from
Sydney Boreman. She made her way to third on a passed ball and crossed the plate by way of an RBI single from
Carrie Fix. Moments later,
Courtney Allen went shopping at the left center gap to score two more runs and tie the score at 3-3.
Erin Cressman gave the Falcons the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fourth in dramatic fashion. She nailed the ball well over the center field fence for her 10
th homerun of the season, adding to her ever-growing tally. The Falcons were close to adding additional runs, but a couple close calls at first base limited the number of base runners in the inning.
Allen helped herself in the bottom of the fifth with a one-out walk on four straight pitches. She scored all the way from first on
Becky Notte's double to left center in the next at-bat. The Falcons added two more runs on a sacrifice fly from
Erin Cressman and an error by the Blazers to end the frame with a 7-3 lead.
The Falcons used a two-out rally in the sixth to push another run across the plate.
Brooke Pompeo, Allen, and Notte each singled with Notte getting credit for the RBI.
Madelyn Yannetti took control of the mound for the Falcons in the top of the seventh, allowing just one hit while forcing two groundouts and a strikeout to secure the 8-3 win.
The Falcons move on to Championship Sunday and will take on the winner of the 11:00 a.m. game at 1:00 p.m. Check out the
Tournament Homepage for schedule and result updates.
