Game 1 Box Score | Game 2 Box Score
Westminster, MD — Evoking memories of last year's season-ending 23-game winning streak that culminated with the 2009 NCAA Division III National Championship, Messiah turned in consecutive beat downs of McDaniel College Thursday, handling the Green Terror by 9-1 and 11-0 scores.
Neither game was ever close, as Game One was stopped after just five innings and only 68 minutes of play.
In the first inning, Messiah (22-5) jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead – eventually scoring a total 12 runs in the first three innings of each contest.
Sophomore Jaclyn Merkel led off the opener with a single, a precursor to what would become her most productive day at the plate this year. After stealing second, she advanced to third on a groundout from classmate Abi Buchler's. Senior Abby Bergakker then walked and stole second, and sophomore Lauren Seneca reached on an error by the second baseman, scoring Merkel and sending Bergakker to third.
Sophomore pitcher Jessica Rhoads knocked in Bergakker for the team's second run with a single, granting her a 2-0 lead before she even stepped onto the pitching rubber.
The Falcons further helped Rhoads' cause by exploding for five more runs in the second inning, aided by singles from sophomore Ashley Lehman, Merkel, Buchler, Bergakker, freshman Stephanie Schell and senior Nicole Adams. All five scored, giving the Falcons a 7-0 lead through one and a half innings.
"We were hitting pretty well today," said Amy Weaver, Messiah head coach. "We pretty much just hit singles and kept methodically scoring. We had a big five-run second inning and that made it really tough (for McDaniel), especially with Jess (Rhoads) pitching."
As has become commonplace with Rhoads, seven runs was six more than she would need. Rhoads turned in the game of her life — which is saying something — as she took a perfect game into the fifth and final inning. She struck out nine of the first 12 batters she faced, including all three in the third inning. Even more incredibly, every single one of Rhoads' strikeouts came with the hitter swinging for strike three.
Sadly, perfection was not in the cards, as Rhoads (14-1) finally tired and allowed a run on a double and two singles in the fifth, but still recorded two more strikeouts to finish the game strong. Her final strikeout was her 200th of the season in just 99 innings. As of the latest NCAA national statistical rankings, Rhoads leads the country in strikeouts per seven innings (14.1).
"Jess pitched incredibly well today," Weaver said. "She took a perfect game into the fifth inning and struck out all but three batters in the first four innings. Then they got a few hits in the fifth inning, two hits, and scored a run, which was a shame. When we're hitting the way we did today and Jess is pitching well, it's kind of hard to beat us. It's the perfect combination."
If Game One was a perfect combination, Game Two wasn't far behind. Messiah hammered McDaniel (11-13) by an even bigger disparity — the 11-0 victory tying for the largest margin of victory this season.
Freshman Jocelyn Hickey (4-2) started for the Falcons and pitched a brilliant game, allowing just five hits and no runs in five innings. Hickey also didn't walk a single batter, and lowered her ERA to 1.79 on the season.
"We started Jocelyn and had her pitch five innings, but then we brought in (senior) Tori Hatt," Weaver said. "Jocelyn was pitching fine, but Tori was coming off an injury, and since we were winning by such a wide margin, we wanted to give her some work."
Hatt made her first appearance after suffering a strained quadriceps a brilliant one. She pitched the game's final two innings, allowing zero base runners, and of course, no runs.
Offensively, the Falcons scored in every single inning except for the fourth, continuing the team's torrid pace on the afternoon.
In the first inning, Merkel led off the game with a double, stole third and scored on Buchler's sacrifice fly to right field.
Messiah tallied on a pair of runs in the second when Hatt reached first on a dropped third strike. Hatt then advanced to second on a groundout by freshman Daniella Pusateri, and scored an unearned run on a throwing error by the second baseman. Merkel followed with a home run to center field, her first of the season, and the Falcons led 3-0 through two innings.
In the third stanza, Bergakker walked, stole second and scored on Schell's double to right center field.
In the fifth inning, the Falcons collected another run on a pair of doubles by Schell and Adams.
Merkel's third hit of the game, and sixth of the doubleheader, was a double to right center to score Pusateri in the sixth inning, putting the Falcons up 6-0.
Weaver's club then closed out a phenomenal doubleheader with five runs in the seventh, all with two outs. With one out, Schell singled up the middle and advanced to second on a wild pitch. One out later, freshman pinch-hitter Myranda Cox walked. Classmate MaryAnn Becker, pinch-hitting for Pusateri, doubled to left center, scoring Schell and sending Cox to third. Becker's double raised her team-leading batting average to a fantastic .474 (9-for-19). Lehman then reached on an error, scoring Cox, and sending Becker to third. Merkel closed out the scoring with a three-run homer to left field, plating Becker and Lehman.
"Every player on the roster played in the second game today," Weaver said. "That was pretty cool. I can't remember the last time that happened, but it was great. We had a great day hitting the ball. We had a lot of extra base hits, mostly doubles, and of course, Jacki's two big home runs. We also had a couple of hits off the fence. A few inches higher and we would have had a few more home runs. It was really a great team effort today."
For the day, Merkel finished 7-8 at the plate, crushing two home runs, two doubles and three singles. She scored six runs and drove in five. She also reached base safely for an eighth time by a walk. On the season, Merkel is hitting .411 and leads the team in runs scored, hits, home runs, total bases and stolen bases.
Messiah will look to continue its red-hot play as it returns to Commonwealth Conference play next, as the Falcons will host league newcomer Alvernia University to a double-header Satrurday. Game time for the first of two is set for 1 p.m.
