Grantham, PA — Visiting Alvernia University made good use of the rules of baseball Wednesday, scoring seven runs with two outs retired in a 9-2 win over Messiah at the Messiah College Baseball Complex.
It was the Falcons' first home loss of the season, as Alvernia (10-5) ripped 11 of its 13 hits over the game's first five innings to cruise to the win.
“They flat out beat us today,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “They pitched better, hit better and played better defense. Any time you have three out of three, you're going to win. Most of the time, you'll win fairly easily.”
Such was the case for the Crusaders Wednesday afternoon, as a two-run blast over the right field wall got things started in the top of the first inning. Messiah (4-6) countered with a solo shot from junior Sheldon Witmer in the bottom half of the stanza, but an Alvernia walk, stolen base and follow-up single in the second inning pushed the visitors' lead to 3-1.
That score came after Messiah retired two outs in the half-inning, a scenario that would repeat itself in seven out of the Crusaders' first eight runs. A one-out, unearned run crossed the plate in the top of the fourth inning, while Alvernia made use of four scores in the fifth — all crossing the plate with two outs in the bag.
“That part of the day was frustrating,” Engle said. “I understand that runs are going to come with two outs, but as a pitcher, that's when you just have to figure out a way to get it done. In clutch situations, we've got to get outs. And if we don't get a guy out, we have to be mentally strong enough to say, 'Alright. I'm going to get the next guy out.' (Two-out runs) are going to happen. It just shouldn't happen seven times out of nine runs. We're one pitch away.”
Messiah's pitching staff was short-changed early in Wednesday's ballgame, as freshman and starter Thor Arnesen lasted just two innings before being removed due to pain in his throwing arm. Classmate Zach Adams was called in from the bullpen, and admittedly did not have his best stuff working. The southpaw gave up five runs off of seven hits in three innings of work, walking three while striking out just one.
Junior Derek Sipe (three innings, one run, two hits) and freshman Chance Sorensen (one inning, no run, no hits) came on later, performing admirably. Arnesen (0-1) was saddled with the pitching loss.
Messiah scored its other run in the seventh inning, as doubles from senior Ben Kirk and freshman Jon Brubaker accounted for the tally. Along with Witmer, the tandem accounted for the Falcons' only extra-base hits of the day, as six players posted one hit each en route to Messiah's six total hits.
“I don't want the guys making excuses, even though excuses could be made,” Engle said. “It's easy to talk about our tough schedule, the fact that we lost our starting pitcher early, the fact that we're leaving for Florida in less than 24 hours … forget the easy thing. I think that everyone on this team wants to do something difficult well.”
Messiah will depart for central Florida Thursday, beginning a seven-game in six-day odyssey over the school's spring break recess. The Falcons open with pre-season number-one ranked Cortland State University Friday.
The road gets no easier.
“We've got to come out fighting,” Engle said. “Anyone can come out fighting in free territory. It's when you've got your back against the wall that you really have to come out tough.”
Messiah will face Cortland State in a single, nine-inning game beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday night at Chain Links Stadium in Winter Haven, Fla. Field locations for the team's spring break games can be viewed on the schedule page.
