Moravian Box Score |
Kean Box Score |
Averett Box Score |
Neumann Box Score
Virginia Beach, VA — It was a successful — if not warm — weekend for the Messiah College softball team at the Virginia Beach Blast Tournament, as the Falcons knocked off sixth-ranked Moravian College in highlighting a split decision in four games at the two-day event in the Cavalier state.
Messiah (2-4) got into the win column for the first time this season in the weekend opener Friday afternoon, defeating Moravian — ranked sixth in the pre-season NFCA Division III Top 25 Poll — by a 6-4 score. The Falcons then followed with a 0-4 loss to Kean University in the nightcap, repeating a similar trend in Saturday's action: Messiah breezed past a tough Averett University squad 8-4 but fell to Neumann College by a 2-4 score, finishing the two-day event with a .500 performance overall.
The squads' wins seemed to stick out more to head coach Amy Weaver, however, as the program leader said she was pleased with her team's overall efforts.
“I think we felt pretty good about our hitting overall and certainly felt good about our big wins over Moravian and Averett,” Weaver said. “We played some pretty tough competition down here and we saw that we are capable of beating any of these teams.”
Messiah's first win of the season came against perhaps its toughest opponent to date, as Moravian (1-1) was coming off a 35-7 record in 2007 and the program's 10th straight appearance in the NCAA National Championship Tournament. The Greyhounds fell to Emory University in the fifth game of last season's NCAA World Series, marking the second time in four years Moravian had made it to the grand event.
It was not a bad opponent for freshman pitcher Corinn Eby to pick up her first collegiate win against.
Eby (1-2) threw a solid performance in six and one-third innings worth of work for Messiah, striking out three batters while walking just two. She gave up just eight hits to the talented Moravian side, while just three of the Greyhounds' four runs were earned.
Moravian struck first in the bottom of the second inning, making the most of a Falcons' error to plate a single run. Weaver's team responded with a fury in its next at-bat, however, generating three runs in the top of the third thanks largely to a clutch single from junior Amy Bowie. After the Greyhounds walked Messiah's first score across the plate, Bowie came up with a two-out, two-RBI single to help her team to a 3-1 lead.
The Greyhounds would add a run to close the gap in the fourth inning, but a fifth-inning double from freshman Rebecca Stackhouse was pushed in for a score on a subsequent single from senior Lana Trotter.
Messiah plated two more runs in the sixth inning, as a double from sophomore Nicole Adams began the offense with two outs retired. A single from sophomore Tori Hatt drove in Adams, while a base-hit bunt from freshman Rebekkah Funk pushed across the Falcons' second score.
With Messiah leading by a 6-2 count heading into the bottom of the seventh, Moravian showed the character of a championship-caliber team. Back-to-back singles opened the stanza for the Greyhounds, while a walk from Eby loaded the bases. Moravian scored two runs off a single, and Weaver brought in sophomore Megan Rice (2) to close the deal. Rice faced two batters and forced a fly out and ground out to conclude the game, picking up her first save of the season in the process.
Bowie led the Falcons' offensive attack with a 2-4 performance from the plate en route to two RBI. Trotter finished 1-3 with a pair of RBI as well.
“The atmosphere was really buzzing as we went into our first game of the weekend against Moravian,” Weaver said. “We never gave up after falling behind early and chipped away to beat a nationally-ranked team. Bekkah Funk made several very difficult plays at shortstop that won't show up just by looking at stats, but she made some awesome plays. We were very, very pleased to get our first win of the season against such a quality opponent.”
Perhaps mentally drained from such a big win, Messiah's bats went quiet in Friday's nightcap, as the Falcons generated a season-low three hits in its 0-4 loss to Kean (2-0). Rice (1-1) was saddled with the pitching loss, giving up four runs — two were earned — in four innings worth of work. Junior Jenna Batchelor came on in relief, tossing two scoreless innings while allowing just one hit.
Rice did strike out five Kean batters while walking just two, but a lack of run support foiled her efforts. The Falcons received a pair of singles from sophomore Lindsay Hall and another from Rice herself, but that was the extent of the offense.
“We just never got started at bat,” Weaver said. “We couldn't find any offense collectively.”
As the temperatures struggled to hit the 50-degree mark for the weekend, Messiah got hot at the plate early on Saturday. The Falcons scored a single run in each of the first six innings in the opener against Averett, adding another two scores in the seventh inning.
The result was a methodical win, as two-run stanzas from the Cougars in the first and fourth innings could not match Messiah's consistency.
“Again on Saturday against Averett, the atmosphere was really charged in the dugout right from the start,” Weaver said. “You could feel the tension in the air until we broke it open. It was a complete team effort as 14 of our 15 players played in the game at some point. It was a very good win for us.”
Rice collected the win in the pitching circle, coming on in relief of Batchelor who tossed a solid four innings of work in her own right. Batchelor allowed four runs off of just four hits, none of which were earned. Rice came on and allowed just one hit against 10 batters, striking out two.
Messiah's claim to success was its consistency at the plate, as the team spread its 12 hits evenly: The Falcons registered one or two hits in every inning save for the second, where the team belted four shots into the fray.
The squad was led by a pair of homeruns from Trotter and freshman Cara Testerman, both solo shots coming in the fourth and sixth innings, respectively. Bergakker finished 3-3 at the plate with two RBI, while Funk finished 2-3 with a run scored and a double.
Seven Messiah players recorded hits in the game, while Stackhouse, Rice and freshman Jessica Climenhaga all collected RBI as well.
Looking to even its overall win-loss record against Neumann, Weaver's team came up just short after rallying to tie the game in the fourth inning. Eby started the game and collected the pitching loss, as Neumann scored two runs in the first and fifth innings.
The latter of those stanzas was the killer for the Falcons, as a two-run homer from Bergakker tied the game at 2-2 in Messiah's half of the fourth. The momentum was quickly lost in the defensive half of the fifth for the Falcons, however, as an error allowed Neumann the go-ahead run. The Knights singled to drive in its second score of the inning, and again Messiah trailed by a pair.
Weaver's team came up empty in its final three innings of offense, generating just one hit while leaving just one on base.
“Our game against Neumann was pretty much a pitchers' dual from the start,” Weaver said. “We gave up the first two runs off of mental and physical errors. It felt like a postseason championship game though as both teams were charged up and battling it out. We obviously got a big boost from Abby's home run to get back in the game, but ultimately errors killed us in giving up too many unearned runs. We have to tighten up on defense and play solid ball to win these types of pitchers' dual games.”
Bergakker's long ball was just one of three hits for Messiah on the contest, as Adams added a double in a 1-2 effort at the plate. Hall came up with the Falcons only other hit of the game, generating a single in the second inning.
“We need to come back and focus on tightening up our defense, that is clear,” Weaver said. “But we are excited about our play overall as we come back and hope to win our first home opener this coming week.”
Messiah is scheduled to open its home season Friday against Mary Baldwin College. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
