Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
Frederick, MD — Another pair of dominating pitching performances — coupled with some timely hitting — pushed Messiah to its third and fourth wins of the season Friday, as the Falcons defeated host Hood College by 6-0 and 9-0 scores.
Freshman Jessica Rhoads (2-0) earned the Game One pitching win, going the distance in the circle for her second win in as many appearances.
While she would eventually strike out 13 Blazers' batters, Friday's opener did not start without trepidation for the talented right hander, as Hood (0-6) utilized a pair of singles and a walk to load the bases with just one out retired in the bottom of the first inning.
Rhoads then struck out Hood's next to batters to get out of the stanza, perhaps setting a tone for the rest of the game as well: Rhoads scattered just two more hits in the game's final six innings of work, offering no additional bases on balls.
That type of crushing performance was all that Messiah's offense needed, as the Falcons scored three in the top half of the fourth inning after scoring a solo run in the second.
A triple from junior Lindsay Hall drove in two runs in the fourth, while a Hood passed ball in the first and a fielding error in the fourth helped bring in Messiah's other two scores.
The Falcons then tacked on a pair of insurance runs for good measure in the seventh inning via a two-run homer from senior Amy Bowie. Her first dinger of the season, Bowie's blast drove in freshman Jaclyn Merkel, who reached on a fielding error.
Bowie added a second-inning single to go with her homer, finishing the game 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Freshman Lauren Seneca went 2-3 at the plate, while Hall's double plated two runs as well.
Messiah's bats exploded in the day's second contest, as the Falcons went off for 13 hits en route to the 9-0 blasting. Junior Megan Rice (2-0) recorded the pitching win, completing the game with just three hits allowed.
Messiah (4-0) provided Rice instant support, posting two runs via a Merkel blast in the opening stanza. Merkel's second home run of the season, the shot to left field drove in classmate Ashley Lehman, who led off the game with a single.
As Rice took care of business, Messiah tacked on two more runs in the third inning, coming courtesy of four singles. The Falcons would post just one hit in their offensive halves of the fourth and fifth innings, but a five-hit, five-run sixth stanza left little doubt about the impending outcome. Singles were again the recipe for runs, as Merkel, Seneca, junior Nicole Adams freshman Abi Buchler, all drove in run via base knocks.
Merkel's three-hit, three-RBI line led the squad, while Buchler finished 3-3 with an RBI and three runs scored. Lehman finished 2-3 with two runs scored. Seneca went 2-4 with a pair of RBI.
Messiah must now turn around and travel to Virginia in less than 24 hours, as the Falcons will meet up with Mary Baldwin College tomorrow afternoon for a double-header. Game time for the first of two is set for 1 p.m.
