By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
York, PA — Messiah dropped an 11-4 decision at York College Thursday, falling in a road game that was originally scheduled to be played on Starry Field.
Presistent rains earlier in the week rendered the outfield unplayable at the Falcons' home, and York was an unaccommodating host: The Spartans scored two runs in the bottom of the first and another in its half of the third, blowing the game open with a four-run fourth inning to make it a 7-0 affair.
The loss – the Messiah's seventh in the last nine games – drops the team's away record to 0-5 on the year.
“This was not our best performance,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “We weren't as mentally sharp as we could have been for the second straight game and we failed to capitalize on our opportunities.”
Junior Travis Thome (1-3) started on the mound for the Falcons, yielding the Spartans' opening seven runs on nine hits in just over three innings, while taking home the loss for the day.
And while York (12-9) jumped on the board early, Messiah (8-10) was not without its chances to match the new hosts, putting plenty of runners on base but failing to push across a run.
In Messiah's half of the first, four Falcons reached base but due to a double play and an untimely fly out, the team stranded the bases loaded.
In fact, the team left seven runners on base in the first three innings, going just 1-11 with men in scoring position for the day.
“Sometimes you need a catalyst,” said Engle. “You need that spark, those two-out hits, and we just didn't have it today.”
Pitching in relief of Thome was junior Josh Hershberger, who hurled two and two thirds innings, allowing just one hit and no runs.
“Josh pitched extremely well,” Engle said. “I have a lot of confidence in him. He hasn't had many opportunities this year but he will continue to get more chances.”
Sophomores Nate Roten and Davin Okerblom finished the game on the mound for the Falcons. Messiah scored three more runs in the top of the ninth on an RBI groundout by freshman Jon Hoover, an RBI triple from junior Jordan Snader and another RBI groundout from junior Sean Hart, but it was too little, too late for the Falcons.
The team gets a much-needed three days of rest before an away matchup against Johns Hopkins University at 3:30 p.m. next Monday, though the competition gets no easier: Hopkins enters that game on an eight-game winning streak, ranked seventh in the nation in the ABCA Top 25.
“I think this rest is very important for the team,” Engle said. “We're going through a bit of a struggle and the time off should help because we have a big week next week.”
