York, PA — Host York College ran its winning streak to 10 games Monday afternoon, as Messiah was unable to come up with the key hits in a 5-2 loss at Jaquet Field.
The Falcons outhit the Spartans by a 9-8 difference on the day, but a pair of York homeruns and 11 Messiah base runners left on proved the ultimate difference on a wind-swept day.
“This was a game against a team typical of our schedule thus far,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “York's a regional-caliber team that has been playing very well as of late, and they threw their ace at us. That's what we want. I thought we did some very good things today, and we outhit them, but we just didn't get the situational hitting.”
Messiah (4-5) got on the board first, cracking a pitcher's duel in the top of the third inning. Three straight singles from juniors Adam Ranck, Sheldon Witmer and Jordan Zimmerman plated the Falcons' first run with two outs retired, giving sophomore and starting pitcher Eric Spring a bit of support.
Spring — who would finish the day going seven full innings while striking out five and walking none — impressed Engle, as he held a York team averaging 12.1 runs per game to just three scores. The Spartans tied the game in the fourth inning on a pair of leadoff singles, and Spring found himself in a two-on, no-out scenario just moments later.
The southpaw then recorded a pair of strikeouts while forcing a pop up to end the inning, stopping a York push in its tracks.
“I thought that Eric Spring threw very well today,” Engle said. “He's made distinct progress from his first two starts of the year, and he had good control over his stuff today. We fielded the ball well, our pitching was good and we minimized our mistakes. Overall, I thought we played pretty well. Today was kind of an example where baseball can be a funny game. We just didn't get that big hit when we needed it.”
York (10-2) tacked on solo runs in the fifth and seventh innings, the latter coming off a solo homer run from Matt Monti. Messiah was able to pull within a 3-2 score in the top of the eighth, where a leadoff double from senior Ben Kirk was eventually brought home via a Spartans' error.
The Falcons' nearly kept its rally going with two outs and runners on first and third, but York shortstop Rob Klinck made a brilliant play on a well-hit grounder from sophomore Sean Hart, flipping the ball to second to end the half inning.
The Spartans then utilized a double and a two-run homer off of junior reliever Elliot Thomas in the bottom of the eighth inning, tacking on insurance runs that it would not wind up needing. Messiah was retired one, two, three in the top of the ninth.
Ranck paced Messiah at the plate, going 3-5 with a run scored. Kirk (1-4) provided the Falcons with their only extra-base hit of the afternoon, while Witmer finished 2-5 — the Falcons' only other multiple-hit performer.
Spring (1-1) was saddled with the pitching loss. Thomas gave up two runs off of two hits in his one inning of relief.
“We got rallies going today with one or two outs,” Engle said. “We struggled to get leadoff guys on. We created some opportunities but we couldn't capitalize on as many as we needed. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the opposing pitcher. I thought Jason Christenberry threw a very nice game.
“I feel good about our early season schedule,” he continued. “Even though our record is not where we'd like it to be, if you look at it purely from a numbers standpoint, we've played really good people. We're making improvements and fixing some things along the way.”
Messiah will return to the field Wednesday afternoon, when the team hosts future MAC Commonwealth opponent Alvernia University. The Crusaders will begin Commonwealth play next spring. Wednesday's first pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
