By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Reading, PA — With the way their bats have been swinging recently, there can't be too many teams that would look forward to playing Messiah.
Friday afternoon at Kelchner Field, Commonwealth Conference foe Albright College took its best shot.
Despite giving up an 8-1 lead to the visiting Falcons, the host Lions roared back — tying the game in the bottom of the eighth and again in the bottom of the ninth, forcing Messiah into its first extra-inning affair of the season.
Thankfully for the Falcons, their bats stayed hot, pushing across the winning run in the top of the 10th — the team's fourth straight victory.
“It's always good to get the win,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “We had our highs, then our lows, and we were thankful to have ended on a high.”
Messiah (13-13, 4-6), who has averaged 10.5 runs per contest during their current season-high four-game winning streak, rode another strong performance from the offense and a solid pitching outing from sophomore Tory Arnesen, to reach .500 for the first time this month.
Albright (5-21, 2-11) jumped on the board with an unearned run in the first inning, but the Falcons answered back with three of their own in the third inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Sophomore Sam Tajiri started the inning by beating out a ground ball to the pitcher, before the speedster stole second and advanced to third on freshman Paul Mellinger's ground out. Sophomore Wes Hollenbach's RBI single to right field scored Tajiri, tying the game.
Senior Sheldon Witmer then delivered with a big two-out, two-run home run – his team-leading second long ball of the season – to put the Falcons up, 3-1.
Messiah added four more runs in the top half of the fifth, as Mellinger hit a one-out single and scored on Hollenbach's RBI double to right center field. An error by the Lions' shortstop on a ball hit by senior Dan Etter scored Hollenbach, putting the Falcons up 5-1.
Witmer drew a walk to put two men on, and a passed ball sent Etter to third base and Witmer to second. Senior Jordan Zimmerman then followed with a two-run single to put the finishing touches on the rally.
Engle's club tacked on one more run in the sixth inning, as sophomore Ryan Brown walked, advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt from senior Jon Shenk, and scored on Tajiri's RBI single.
“I was proud of us offensively,” Engle said. “We made adjustments and had that attacking mentality.Our guys took advantage at the plate and didn't get behind in the count.”
Meanwhile, Arnesen was tossing a superb game on the mound. The sophomore worked himself into a little trouble in the seventh inning, but finished the day with six and two-thirds innings pitched without allowing an earned run. The right-hander gave up six hits and just one walk, while striking out five.
“Tory kept his pitch count low and he mixed his off-speed pitches well,” said Engle, a former Messiah pitcher himself.
Unfortunately, the Lions began to slowly eat into the lead, tacking on four unearned runs in the seventh inning against Arnesen and sophomore relief pitcher Zach Adams. When Albright added three more in the eighth against Adams and freshman Josh Hershberger, the game was shockingly tied at eight runs apiece.
Having seen its seven-run lead diminish in a matter of two innings, Messiah's bats responded in the top of the ninth when it mattered the most.
Mellinger led off the frame with a walk and advanced to second base on Hollenbach's sacrifice bunt. Etter then flied out to right field, but Witmer's RBI single to left field scored Mellinger, plating the Falcons with a one-run lead.
The Lions scored an unearned run against senior Elliot Thomas in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings, and with thunderstorms on the way, the game's conclusion suddenly appeared dicey.
The Falcons never panicked, however, as senior Adam Ranck started the inning with a leadoff single up the middle. Sophomore John Brubaker then delivered with a huge one-out, pinch-hit double that put runners on second and third. Freshman Matt Turman then lifted a sacrifice fly deep enough to center field that Ranck was able to score the go-ahead run.
Working his second inning on the mound, Thomas (1-2) wrapped up the game in the bottom of the tenth to secure the victory for the Falcons: After a leadoff fly out to the centerfield fence, Thomas worked around a two-out walk as he induced a game-ending fielder's choice from shortstop to second base.
“What a game this was,” Engle said. “We went from feeling like we had it all wrapped up to thinking it was taken from us to realizing that we pulled it off. You know, most games you get 27 chances to beat the other team. Today it took us 30, but we got it done.”
Witmer led the way offensively for the Falcons via his two-run home run and a big RBI single in the ninth inning. Hollenbach collected three hits and two RBI to bring his batting average for the season up to .400. Tajiri, Ranck, and Zimmerman added two hits apiece.
The Falcons' bats – which registered 13 hits for the day – took advantage of four errors by the Lions' defense in reaching double-digit runs for the third time in four games.
To wrap up the series, Messiah will host Albright again tomorrow in a double-header, completing a five-game week for the Falcons. The first pitch of Game One is scheduled for 12 p.m.
