By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA — They say pitching wins ballgames.
Sophomore Tory Arnesen proved that theory Friday, throwing a gem in eight innings of work to help Messiah defeat visiting Lebanon Valley College 4-1 in a Commonwealth Conference game of epic proportions.
The win was Messiah's fourth straight in league play, making the Falcons' once-slim playoff chances very much alive: To qualify for the Commonwealth Conference Tournament, the Falcons need to sweep Lebanon Valley College in tomorrow's doubleheader in Annville, Pa. — a scenario that would not have existed if it weren't for Friday's initial win.
“It was good to get it done today,” said Bryan Engle, Messiah head coach. “We really needed this game, obviously. It was a beautiful day for baseball and to play in this big of a situation was fun.”
Arnesen, who has been arguably the Falcons' most reliable pitcher over the last month, turned in yet another stellar performance on the mound. The right-hander threw eight innings, allowing just one earned run. He gave up eight hits, walked three batters and struck out four batters.
“Tory threw great for us,” Engle said. “It says a lot about his mental make-up. He trusted his pitch location. I always say it's not so much the pitcher's job to win the game, as it is to keep his team in the game. Tory did that very well and thankfully we were able to have enough at-bats to finally come through.”
Messiah's offense started off slowly, as Flying Dutchmen starter Caleb Fick held the Falcons scoreless for the first six innings of the game. In fact, just two Messiah base runners even ventured into scoring position.
“(Fick) threw a good game,” Engle said. “He is a solid pitcher and kept us off-balance for most of the game.”
Lebanon Valley (22-12, 9-7) finally pushed a run across the board against Arnesen in the fourth inning, capitalizing on a pair of hits.
Arnesen (4-2), who pitched the middle innings trailing by just a single run, worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth to keep the score 1-0 in favor of the visitors.
In the seventh inning, with time running out on the Falcons' season, senior Jordan Zimmerman came through with a big leadoff double. Classmate Dan Etter followed with an RBI single, plating Messiah (19-16, 8-8) with its first run of the game, knotting the score at one run apiece.
Etter, who took second base on the throw home, moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt from senior Adam Ranck, and scored on sophomore Ryan Brown's RBI single to give the Falcons a 2-1 lead they would not relinquish.
“The seniors took off for us today,” Engle said. “They were involved in all the runs we scored today.”
For the day, five seniors – Sheldon Witmer, Zimmerman, Etter, Ranck and Jon Shenk – batted .333 (5-for-15) and scored all four of the Falcons' runs.
Engle's club tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, as Witmer singled with two outs, setting the stage for Zimmerman. The senior outfielder again delivered with a big hit, doubling in Witmer for the Falcons' third run of the day, and scoring himself on the play when the Flying Dutchmen committed a throwing error.
“It was great to get the insurance runs in the eighth,” Engle said. “It was only a matter of time until the ice broke and it was good to get those runs when we needed it there.”
Senior Elliot Thomas (3) took the mound in the top of the ninth inning with a 4-1 lead and recorded three easy outs to wrap up the Falcons' biggest win of the season. Thomas, who recorded his third save of the year, lowered his team-leading earned run average to 3.22.
“I like Elliot out there a lot (to close out the game),” Engle said. “I have a lot of confidence in him. He's really been pitching well recently.”
The Falcons will now travel to the Lebanon Valley's McGill Field tomorrow for a double-header, with game time scheduled for 12 p.m.
Simply put, for the Falcons to make the post-season as the fourth seed in the Commonwealth Conference, they need to win both games. A singular loss guarantees LVC the fourth seed, and Messiah's season would be over following Saturday's double-dip.
“We needed to win all three coming into this weekend,” Engle said. “We did our job today but that's not going to get us a win in Game Two or Game Three. Sooner or later, we're going to have to swing the bats better than we've been doing, and we are going to need good contributions from our starting pitchers tomorrow. Basically, we need to just maximize our opportunities and minimize their opportunities.
“If you're a player, you have to love this type of a stage,” he continued. “The post-season is just starting a week early for us. It's going to be a fun day.”
