By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA — If once is a fluke, twice a coincidence and three times a trend, things are starting to look way up for the Messiah baseball team.
The Falcons ripped off their third consecutive win Wednesday afternoon at Starry Field, handling visiting Misericordia University by a 13-3 score. It was the third staight game in which Messiah (12-13) has recorded at least nine hits, while the Falcons have averaged more than 10 runs per contest during the streak.
Wednesday against the Cougars, the hosts collected 17 hits for the game, with five starters tallying two or more.
“We're finding a bit of a rhythm at the plate, and that is obviously good to see,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “Guys are starting to get comfortable with their approaches (at the plate), and I think our recent success is a direct correlation to that.”
Derek Sipe (1-1) earned the start for the Falcons. The senior, who came into the game with just three innings pitched for the season, put together five and two-thirds strong innings on the mound to earn the win. Sipe allowed just three runs on five hits and two walks.
“Derek and I talked about the game plan in terms of attacking hitters,” Bryan said. “I think he really took advantage of it today. He's got that natural downward movement and he mixed in his off-speed pitches and trusted his defense well today.”
Although he didn't strike out a single batter, Sipe forced 12 ground ball outs and kept Misericordia (14-11) in check for most of the game.
Meanwhile, the Falcons' bats responded as they have for the past several games – with big innings at big times.
With the game still scoreless entering the bottom of the fourth, senior center fielder Jordan Zimmerman started a rally with a one-out triple. Junior Jordan Snader walked and senior Adam Ranck hit a sacrifice fly to score Zimmerman, putting the Falcons on the board.
Sophomore Ryan Brown — who reached base in all three plate appearances for the day — followed with a walk, and classmate John Brubaker drove in both runners with a double to deep right center field. Sophomore Sam Tajiri followed with an RBI double, giving the Falcons a 4-0 lead that would prove to be the difference in the game.
The Crusaders threatened in the sixth inning, scoring three runs against Sipe, who was taken out of the game with runners at second and third with two outs. Junior Josh Hershberger quickly stifled the damage, inducing a ground ball to first base to end the inning.
Not to be outdone by the Crusaders' three runs in the top of the sixth inning, the Falcons answered right back with five of their own in the bottom of the sixth frame.
Sophomore Wes Hollenbach led off the inning with a base hit to right field. He advanced to second base on Ranck's sacrifice bunt, and when Brown was hit by his team-leading fifth pitch of the season, the pair successfully pulled off a double steal to put two men in scoring position for Brubaker.
Brubaker — who finished the day with four runs batted in — lifted a sacrifice fly to the outfield, scoring Hollenbach. Tajiri followed with an RBI single, and stole second soon afterwards. Freshman Matt Turman followed with a walk and freshman Paul Mellinger reached on an error by the shortstop, scoring Tajiri.
A wild pitch scored Turman, sending Mellinger to second base, and senior Dan Etter drew a walk to put two men on base. Zimmerman followed with an RBI single and Hollenbach collected his second hit of the inning, loading the bases. Ranck finally flied out to end the inning, but the Falcons took away a 9-3 lead.
“The late to middle innings have been treating us nicely,” Engle said. “They put up a three-spot in the top of the inning and we were able to answer right back with five of our own. The number one goal is to win the innings and we did that pretty well today.”
The Falcons weren't done the scoring for the day, as Engle's squad put up four more runs in the eighth inning to turn what had started off as a pitcher's duel into a one-sided slugfest.
Junior Sean Hart started the inning with a double and scored on Mellinger's RBI single. Zimmerman's one-out hit by pitch put two men on and the duo advanced to second and third base on a wild pitch. Hollenbach smashed a double to deep right center field, just missing a home run. The ball, which hit at the top of the fence, scored Hart and sent Mellinger to third.
Ranck then drilled an RBI single and Brubaker's ensuing two-out RBI single put the finishing touches on one of the Falcons' top offensive explosions of the season.
“We had a lot of big contributions from the whole team today,” Engle said. “Wes got three hits off the bench, and the more options I have to play, the better it is as a coach.”
The Falcons also received strong contributions from the bullpen. Hershberger, who picked up a big out in the sixth inning, pitched a perfect inning in relief. Sophomore Zach Adams and senior Elliot Thomas combined for the remaining two and one-third innings without allowing a run.
Brubaker highlighted the Falcons' offense, driving in four runs on two hits and a sacrifice fly. Tajiri collected three hits, raising his team-leading batting average to .446 for the season. Hollenbach picked up three hits, all after the sixth inning. Mellinger collected two hits and drove in two runs, coming up with an amazing 10 assists from his shortstop position — a career-high mark. Zimmerman also had two hits and scored two runs.
“There is a simple agenda of what we need to do offensively,” Engle said. “We did that today. When we produce offensively as we did, we are going to win a lot of games.”
Messiah will look to take its scoring impetus into a three-game Commonwealth Conference series this weekend, as the Falcons will meet up with Albright College. Messiah will travel to Reading, Pa. for a single, nine-inning game Friday afternoon beginning at 3:30 p.m. The action will then shift back to Starry Field Saturday, for a double-header slated to begin at 12 p.m.
