By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA — Saturday's Commonwealth Conference doubleheader with Albright College started poorly for Messiah.
It ended worse.
The Falcons dropped 2-6 and 2-4 decisions to the Lions, giving up six scores in the day's first two innings and four more in the afternoon's final two frames. Meanwhile, it was the absence of Messiah's recently potent offense that exacerbated things, as the hosts could muster just four runs and seven hits in 14 innings on the day.
“No loss is good, but these two losses hurt,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach.
Sophomore Nate Roten (1-2) received the start for Messiah in Game One. The sophomore, who has been arguably the Falcons' most reliable pitcher thus far this season, was hit hard, surrendering all six runs in two innings on the mound. Albright (7-21, 4-11) tagged the Christiana, Pa. native for four hits, while a pair of Messiah errors didn't help matters.
“If you fall behind by four in the first inning and six by the second, it's quite a hole to overcome,” Engle said. “We just didn't play well enough to win today.”
Junior Travis Thome turned in a phenomenal performance in relief of Roten, pitching five one-hit innings without allowing a run. The junior, who had turned in one of his best collegiate performances in his last outing — a 9-2 win vs. Rowan University last Tuesday — extended his personal streak of consecutive scoreless innings pitched to 13.
“Travis pitched very well for us in long-term relief,” Engle said. “He kept us in the game. His job was not to let (Albright's) lead get any bigger, and he did just that.”
Unfortunately for Thome, his offense was not much help, scoring just a single run in the third inning and another in the seventh.
Sophomore Sam Tajiri's RBI ground out scored senior Adam Ranck in the third to cut the deficit to 6-1.
In the seventh inning and facing their last licks, senior Dan Etter's leadoff walk sprung a glimmer of hope for the Falcons. Classmate Sheldon Witmer struck out and senior Jordan Zimmerman grounded out for the second out, but when Ranck's fly ball to the right fielder was misplayed, allowing Etter to score, there seemed to be some magic in the air for the Falcons.
It wasn't meant to be however, as senior Alex Lentz's strikeout ended the game, handing Messiah (13-15, 4-8) its first loss in five games. A total four errors from the usually sound Falcons' defense didn't help matters, though Thome was able to overcome the final two miscues with his deft pitching.
Unlike the opener, Game Two started on a positive note, as Messiah jumped on the board with runs in both the second and third innings.
Just as he did in the final inning of the previous game, Etter led off the second frame with a walk. The senior stole second, advanced to third on an error, and scored on Zimmerman's sacrifice fly to the outfield, giving Messiah its first lead of the day.
Sophomore John Brubaker led off the home half of the third inning with a double. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Tajiri's one-out RBI single to put the Falcons up 2-0.
Meanwhile, junior Eric Spring kept the Lions in check on the mound. The southpaw held the Lions to just four hits and no runs in his first five innings in the pitching circle.
In the sixth, with the Falcons just four defensive outs away from wrapping up a win, the Lions caught a break when their inning was kept alive by an error on right fielder Etter. Four straight Lions reached base and when the dust settled, Messiah saw its 2-0 lead turn into a 2-3 deficit.
Another Lions' run in the seventh inning put the Falcons down by two runs entering their last turn at bat. Zimmerman's ground out and Witmer's fly out to start the inning put the Falcons just one out away from a second consecutive loss.
Ranck worked a walk to keep the game alive. Sophomore pinch-hitter Tory Arnesen then followed with a base hit. When Brubaker walked to load the bases, pulling off an improbable comeback seemed like a real possibility for Messiah.
Again, it wasn't meant to be, as leadoff hitter Tajiri grounded out to third base to end the game, sending a chopper off the first pitch from Lions' reliever Kevin Butler.
“The bottom line was they took advantage of their opportunities at the plate and we didn't,” Engle said. “We have to finish innings, and we didn't get it done here.”
The Falcons' offensive woes overshadowed a fine performance by Spring (2-3), who pitched a complete game, allowing just one earned run. Spring walked just one batter and struck out seven Lions, but took the loss for the game.
Messiah will look to regenerate the type of momentum it had prior to Saturday's defeats, as the team squares off in a pair of midweek non-conference games before returning to Commonwealth action next weekend. The Falcons will play McDaniel College next, hosting the Green Terror for a 3:30 p.m. contest Tuesday.
