Grantham, PA — Through seven innings of play Tuesday afternoon at Starry Field, the Messiah College baseball team showed it could compete at the highest level of NCAA Division III baseball.
Had it not been for one fiasco of a half inning, the end result may have better reflected that fact.
The College of New Jersey — ranked seventh in the country in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 Poll — used a six-run eighth inning to blow open a 3-3 game, eventually taking a 9-3 decision in a disappointing finish for the Falcon faithful. After generating a spirited, two-run bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 3-3, Messiah (22-10) could not hold down the Lions in the top of the eighth, as a two-run homer began the game-changing stanza for the visitors.
“That was probably the toughest thing about today's game,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “TCNJ was able to do to us what we've been doing to our opponents this year, and that's just hanging around until you get a big inning. We were right there and we proved we can play at this level, but we're not interested in moral victories. If you're going to line them up and keep score, you want actual victories. We want this program to expect to win games like this.”
Things couldn't have gotten off to a better start for Engle's club, as senior Craig Mease led off the bottom of the first with his sixth home run of the season — a shot deep to right field. Messiah then had a chance for an additional run in the third inning, but a controversial play at the plate foiled what may have been: After sophomore Jon-Mike Richards got caught in a run-down between first and second, Mease took off for home following a lead-off double to start the stanza. TCNJ fired home for a play at the plate, and it appeared Mease reached back and touched home after missing it on his initial slide.
The lead umpire called him out, however, while Engle's subsequent discussion was to no avail. TCNJ (23-4) held the Falcons down after the play, still trailing 1-0.
Senior Jeremy Stoltzfus (3-3) pitched what Engle called “one of his best outings of the season,” but the Lions were able to tack three runs on the board in the top of the fourth. A lead-off double began the scoring cycle, though a Messiah error allowed two scores to come in unearned fashion.
After trading scoreless innings in both the fifth and sixth, Engle's club got its biggest offensive performance of the afternoon in the seventh, scoring a pair of runs off of three hits. Senior Kyle Stuckey led off with a single, while a single from sophomore Sheldon Witmer drove him in two batters later. A fielder's choice from sophomore Adam Ranck then plated Witmer, who was pushed into scoring position thanks to a single from Mease.
TCNJ's offensive half of the eighth inning would be catastrophic to Messiah's cause, however, as Stoltzfus' last pitch of the day was a 3-2 delivery to the Lions' Vince Mazzacccaro. Mazzaccaro curved a rope just inside of the left field foul pole for his fifth home run of the season.
The blast came just a pitch after Mazzaccaro popped a high fly ball into foul territory, with senior leftfielder Ben Snyder, Ranck and Richards all giving chase. None could get to it.
“If that (foul) ball is caught, who knows what happens from there,” Engle said. “Unfortunately after the home run, the wheels kind of fell off for us. That certainly changed the momentum of the game. Our dugout went from being fired up after tying the game (in the seventh) to being deflated.”
Engle inserted senior Ben Jordan for Stoltzfus following the home run, reliving his starter after seven full innings pitched with four strikeouts and just three walks. Only three of TCNJ's five runs were earned.
“I think Jeremy will only remember that one pitch, but he threw much better than the result showed,” Engle said. “He had confidence in his pitches all day, and he did his job and kept us in the game for a long time. His improvement from the start of the season has been phenomenal, and I thought he was really, really solid for us today.”
Jordan allowed four singles upon entering, while a Falcon error and a wild pitch helped to four additional Lions' runs. With Messiah needing an explosive plate appearance to catch up, the team went down in order in the final two innings, save for a moot single from Witmer in the ninth.
Mease led the offensive clip for the Falcons, going 3-5 with a run scored and an RBI. His double was the team's only extra-base hit. Jordan finished 2-4 at the plate, while Witmer's 2-4 effort also drove home a run.
“We told the guys after the game, these are the types of teams will face at the (NCAA) regional level, if we're fortunate enough to make it there,” Engle said. “I thought that today was an example of us not playing our best, but still being right there against a very good team. I'm glad we have two days to get back to the practice field before our next game. Usually in baseball, after a loss, you're excited to hurry up and get back to playing. But I think these two days will help us as we prepare for a big conference battle with Elizabethtown (College). It should be a whale of a series.”
Messiah will host its cross town rivals in a single, nine-inning game Friday at 3:30 p.m., before returning the favor Saturday at the Blue Jays' home field. The teams will then meet for a double-header, slated to start at 12 p.m.
