Suffolk Box Score | Bethany Box Score
Orlando, FL — Messiah's 10-game winning streak was snapped, but the team showed little effects in day two of the Falcons' week-long spring break trip in central Florida.
Suffolk College slipped past Messiah by a 4-2 score in early-morning action Tuesday, but the Falcons rebounded with a Jess Rhoads-powered, no-hit 10-0 win against Bethany College in the second of two — seemingly getting back to the form that has the team sitting 11-1 on the year.
"It was another good day for us in beautiful weather," said Amy Weaver, Messiah head coach. "We just couldn't get the bats going against Suffolk, though. We had some kids hitting deep line drives, but we just didn't get the breaks."
A perfect storm of quality opponent hitting and an anomale of Falcons' offense led to the Game One defeat, as sophomore Corinn Eby (1-1) suffered the loss in the pitching circle. The right-hander allowed four runs in two and two thirds innings of work — all of which coming off two home runs from Rams' leftfielder Jess Ferreira.
Messiah, meanwhile, was a shadow of itself offensively, generating just seven hits for a season-low two scores. The Falcons' entered the game averaging 10.3 hits per contest and 7.9 runs per outing.
Still, Weaver's club had its chances to make things happen. A pair of singles led to a run in the bottom of the fourth on a sacrifice groundout from junior Nicole Adams, while a sixth-inning single from Adams drove in another.
Trailing 2-4, the Falcons nearly got all the way back in their final at-bat, leading off with two singles in the bottom of the seventh.
A fielder's choice, a groundout and a runner caught stealing would end things, however, as Suffolk (2-4) had escaped with the win.
Junior Megan Rice came on in relief of Eby, throwing four and one-third innings while allowing just three hits while striking out two. Messiah recorded no extra-base hits in the contest, as freshman Abi Buchler was the only player to produce multiple hits, going 2-3.
"Their number three hitter killed us with two home runs," Weaver said. "We rallied in the seventh inning but couldn't get it done. We just didn't get the breaks that we needed in this one. We hit the ball hard, but most of the time it was right at them."
Looking to make sure Tuesday morning's loss did not turn into a streak, Weaver turned to a more Messiah-like performance at the plate and yet another brilliant pitching performance from freshman star Jessica Rhoads, as the Falcons dispatched Bethany (3-4) by a 10-0 score.
Rhoads (6-0) struck out 11 of the 16 batters she faced, earning her second no-hitter and fifth shut-out win in just six appearances.
The Falcons offense came alive in a big way, pounding out 15 hits — six of which were doubles.
Messiah — ranked 20th in the latest NFCA Top 25 Poll — scored two in the first, three in the second and four in the third to pounce on the Bison early, putting the game away before it really got started.
Junior Abby Bergakker had her most productive day of the young season, going 3-3 at the plate with a double, an RBI and two runs scored. Buchler drove in a game-high four runs on a 2-4 performance, while freshman Jaclyn Merkel finished 2-2 with three RBI and a run scored. Adams blasted two doubles, while senior Amy Bowie and junior Lindsay Hall each recorded two hits apiece.
"Our bats really came alive against Bethany, and that was good to see after just not quite finding the gaps against Suffolk," Weaver said. "We found all the holes again and shut down a very good team. Bethany is a very good team with national respect. We hit them and Jess shut them down."
Messiah will take a day off to enjoy the Florida sun before returning to the field Thursday, when the team will take on Concordia University at 9:30 a.m. and FDU-Florham at 11:30 a.m.
