Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
Grantham, PA — Squaring off against its second 20-win team in 48 hours, the Messiah College softball team had a six-win in seven-game push end Wednesday, as York College claimed 4-0 and 2-1 decisions at Starry Field.
Messiah (21-17) split up just six hits on the afternoon while surrendering 13 knocks to York (25-10), as the Spartans cashed in for early leads in both games to claim the sweep. It was a pair of disappointing losses for Messiah head coach Amy Weaver, who watched her team collect 2-1 and 7-2 wins over Dickinson College Monday — a team with 22 wins to its credit.
"It was a tough day for us," Weaver said. "We struggled to find our offense, and York hit the ball very hard. Obviously, we had our sights set on winning our last two regular-season home games, but it just didn't happen for us today."
Messiah faced the same starting pitcher in both games of a double-header — York's Megan Mickles — for the first time this season, while Mickles would get the best of the Falcons. The right hander tossed a total 13 innings on the afternoon en route to 12 strikeouts, walking just two.
Junior Jenna Batchelor (7-3) suffered the pitching loss in the day's first game, giving up three of York's four runs in a two-inning span. The Spartans used a double and a single to plate a score in the fifth inning, while a solo home run highlighted a three-run sixth.
Messiah would respond with just one hit in its final two at-bats — freshman Rebecca Stackhouse singled in the sixth — as York cruised to the win.
Stackhouse provided two of the team's three hits, while freshman Rebekkah Funk came up with the other. Sophomore Megan Rice made her first pitching appearance in over a month, coming on in relief of Batchelor and striking out two in facing just nine batters.
As Mickles took the pitching circle again for York in the second game, Messiah's offense appeared to have her figured out. Senior Lana Trotter and Stackhouse opened the bottom of the first with a single and a double, looking to generate some major offense early.
Instead, Mickles struck out the inning, ending the threat.
Freshman Jessica Climenhaga matched Mickles' pitching performance save for the third inning, where a pair of passed balls helped the Spartans plate their lone runs of the game — both unearned.
Messiah tacked on its run in a rally-attempt bottom of the seventh, as junior Amy Bowie knocked her fifth home run of the season. It was the Falcons' only hit of the inning, however, as two strikeouts and a fly out concluded the day's activities.
Bowie's home run led the team, as Trotter and Stackhouse added a single and a double, respectively. Climenhaga (8-5) suffered the pitching loss, while Rice again came in for some pitching work, going two innings while striking out two of seven.
"I felt like we were starting to figure (Mickles) out at the start of the second game, and when Amy Bowie hit her home run in the seventh I thought we could come back," Weaver said. "What really hurt was giving up those two unearned runs. Without those, we win 1-0. That's a tough pill to swallow."
Messiah will next conclude its MAC Commonwealth regular-season Saturday, when the team travels to Widener University. Game time for the first of two is set for 1 p.m.
