By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Philadelphia, PA — On an afternoon when it was imperative, Messiah's offense kept on rolling, as the Falcons put up 17 hits in a 12-4 Commonwealth Conference win over Arcadia University Friday at the Knights' Erny Field.
With the probability of a post-season conference tournament berth resting, in part, on this weekend's three-game series with Arcadia (8-24, 1-12), Messiah (16-15, 5-8) cranked the runs out early and often, scoring six in the first three innings to run away with a needed league win.
“We definitely started off this series well,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach.
Backed by a solid pitching performance from sophomore Tory Arnesen and strong defensive support, the Falcons captured their third consecutive win and seventh in nine games.
Messiah's offense put the team on the board early, scoring four times in the top of the first inning to plate Arnesen with a big lead before he ever took the mound.
“You can't speak enough about that four-spot in the first inning,” Engle said.
The inning began as many have this season – with a base hit by sophomore leadoff hitter Sam Tajiri, a .424 hitter on the year who has been a catalyst for the offense. Tajiri swiped second base for his team-leading 14th steal and advanced to third base on freshman Paul Mellinger's base hit.
When Mellinger stole second and sophomore Wes Hollenbach walked to load the bases, it appeared as if the Falcons would have a big inning.
And they did, as senior Sheldon Witmer's one-out RBI single plated the Falcons with the first run of the game. Senior Dan Etter followed with an RBI walk and classmate Adam Ranck smacked a two-run single to left field to put Messiah up by four runs.
Sophomore Ryan Brown followed with a single to load the bases, but Jon Shenk's pop up and Tajiri's ground out ended the inning. Still, the Falcons managed to bat around, scoring as much in one frame as the Knights would for the game.
“We probably could have even gotten more than four runs that inning,” Engle said. “We left the bases loaded with one out. Still, a four-run lead that early is huge.”
With the sizable lead to work with, Arnesen kept the Knights in control for the game. The sophomore allowed 12 hits but didn't walk a single batter, while recording three strikeouts.
“Tory threw very well for us,” Engle said. “He has been arguably our best pitcher over the last month.”
Arnesen (3-2) went the distance for his second complete game of the season, allowing four earned runs, and taking home the win.
“I have a lot of confidence in him,” Engle said. “He was able to give our bullpen a day of rest. With a big doubleheader tomorrow, it is huge to have everyone ready. All arms are available and at 100 percent.”
With Arnesen working on the mound, the Falcons' offense didn't rest, tacking on an additional eight runs for the game. In all, Engle's squad scored runs in six of nine frames.
In the third inning, Etter led off with a solo home run to right field, the senior's first home run of the season. Ranck followed with a single, advanced to second on Brown's hit by pitch, took third on Shenk's fly out to right field, and scored on a balk.
With a 6-1 lead through three innings of play, the Falcons had done all the scoring necessary for the game.
“As we continued to score runs, I thought Tory really began to find his groove on the mound for us,” Engle said.
The Falcons tacked on runs in each of the three middle innings, scoring once in the fourth, three times in the fifth, and once more in the sixth frame.
In the fourth, Hollenbach tripled and scored on Etter's two-out double. Mellinger's two-run double in the fifth scored Shenk and Tajiiri, and senior Jordan Zimmerman's RBI single scored Mellinger. In the sixth inning, Etter walked and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Shenk.
The Falcons topped off the scoring for the day in the seventh inning, when Mellinger doubled and scored on Witmer's RBI single.
Two runs by the Knights in the bottom of the eighth inning were not enough to overcome the deficit, as the Falcons won by an eight-run margin — the sixth time of the season that the squad had posted a victory by six runs or more.
For the day, all nine Messiah starters collected a hit. Mellinger led the way with three hits – a single and two doubles – plus three runs scored and two runs batted in. Etter totaled two hits, two walks, scored twice and drove in three runs.
Tajiri, Witmer, Ranck and Brown also got two hits for Messiah, and the defense played an errorless game.
Messiah will continue its hunt for the post-season with a necessary double-header against Arcadia tomorrow at Starry Field. The program will honor its eight senior members before the start of Game One. First pitch is slated to be thrown at 12 p.m.
