By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Reading, PA — A late push in the second game of Saturday's double-header at Alvernia University helped Messiah avoid a three-game sweep by the Commonwealth Conference leaders, as Messiah took a 10-7 win in the nightcap following a 1-3 loss in the day's opener.
Sophomore Nate Roten got the pitching start for the Falcons in Game One. Roten, who has been arguably the most reliable starting pitcher for Messiah (10-13, 3-6) this season, pitched five and one thirds solid innings, allowing two earned runs. Although he walked five, the sophomore yielded just two hits on the day.
“Nate has continued to throw well for us this season,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “He was facing one of the top teams in the region and he did his job of keeping us in the game. When a guy like Nate continues to excel, I am going to continue to give him a lot of opportunities.”
It was unfortunate for Roten (1-1) that the Crusaders' Shane Zellers turned in an even more impressive performance, holding the Falcons to just one run on three hits in six innings of work on the mound. Zellers struck out the first three Falcons of the day, and it wasn't until the fifth inning with one out that Messiah even put a man on base.
Down by a single run in the top half of the sixth, the Falcons managed to push a run across the plate, tying the game at 1-1. Sophomore Tory Arnesen reached on a one-out walk, advanced to second on freshman Matt Turman's sacrifice bunt, and scored on classmate Wes Hollenbach's RBI double.
When Hollenbach advanced to third on a wild pitch, the Falcons appeared to be in position to take the lead, but senior Sheldon Witmer's fly out sent the game to the bottom of the sixth inning knotted up.
It was then that Alvernia (21-6, 9-4) put up two runs against a tiring Roten and sophomore relief pitcher Zach Adams, before the Falcons came up for their last licks.
Senior Dan Etter led off the seventh inning with a base hit, putting the tying run at the plate. Freshman Paul Mellinger struck out and senior Adam Ranck flied out to right field, sending junior pinch-runner Jamie Scott to second base. Classmate Jordan Snader then worked a walk to keep the game alive and put the go-ahead run at the plate in sophomore John Brubaker.
Unfortunately, Brubaker's ground out to the shortstop forced out Snader at second, ending the contest.
Whereas pitching shone for both teams in Game One, hitting stole the show in the nightcap.
The Falcons jumped on the board early on Etter's two-out, RBI triple in the first inning and added another run in the second when sophomore Ryan Brown scored due to an error by the Crusaders' shortstop.
Alvernia threatened to score in the bottom of the second inning against Falcons' junior starting pitcher Eric Spring, putting runners on second and third with two outs, but the left-hander recorded a timely strikeout to keep the Falcons in the lead.
In the third, the Crusaders capitalized on four walks and a bases-clearing triple to take a 4-2 lead. Messiah tacked on a run in their half of the fourth inning, as senior Jordan Zimmerman doubled to start the inning and scored on sophomore Sam Tajiri's two-out single, cutting the deficit to one run.
When the Crusaders scored twice against Falcons' junior relief pitcher Josh Hershberger in the bottom half of the fifth, it appeared as if Alvernia's three-run lead might hold up for the game.
The Falcons weren't done, though, putting together an incredible sixth-inning rally in which five straight batters reached with two outs. When the dust settled, Messiah had scored six times to take a three-run lead.
Zimmerman again started the scoring, hitting a one-out double. Witmer walked to put two men on, but the Falcons' chance of scoring appeared to be in jeopardy when senior Jon Shenk struck out looking for the second out.
Tajiri kept the inning alive with an RBI single. When the sophomore – who leads the team with nine stolen bases – swiped second base, it set the stage for Brubaker, who delivered with a clutch two-run single that tied the game. Brubaker stole second and subsequently scored on Hollenbach's RBI single, giving the Falcons the lead back, 7-6.
Etter came through for his fourth hit of the day and Snader's two-run double put the finishing touches on one of the Falcons' best rallies of the year.
“Dan Etter had the opportunity to play this whole series and he responded with a tremendous weekend,” Engle said. “When he is swinging the bat like he's been, I have a lot of confidence in him. And Snader's double was huge, considering he was a pinch-hitter. He really responded for us.”
Tajiri added an insurance run in the seventh inning, as his two-out double scored Shenk. For the game, the Falcons scored all 10 runs with two outs retired. In fact, every single run for the Falcons in both games – 11 in all – was scored with two outs.
“I think that is a testament to our team,” Engle said. “It's not so much one of those things you can teach. You can talk about mental execution and not getting your head down when there are two outs, but the guys actually have to put it to work. To see the guys be productive at the plate and extend the inning multiple times was great.”
Senior Elliot Thomas (2) worked two innings on the mound for his second save of the season, allowing just one run, as the Falcons wrapped up the game, 10-7. Hershberger (2-0) picked up the win.
Tajiri highlighted the offense, picking up three hits in Game Two, while driving in three runs. Zimmerman collected two hits and a walk, scoring twice, and Shenk also contributed with two hits.
Messiah now has only a brief respite before beginning another busy week of action, as the team will host Rowan University on Tuesday — the start of a five-game week. First pitch is slated to be thrown at 3:30 p.m.
