Box Score
By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Babson Park, FL — The Messiah baseball team was hoping for a Southwest Airlines-like Wanna Get Away moment upon arriving to the Orlando, Florida area Thursday night.
Instead, the squad got very much of the same-old, same-old Friday afternoon.
Looking to ease some of the ongoing problems that had plagued the team through the first few weeks of the season, it was instead the same, recurring issues that led to Messiah's 8-4 loss to Salem State College, in the first of its seven-game Florida road trip over the institution's spring recess.
Messiah (2-7) pounded out 14 hits and held Salem State (1-1) to just one run through seven innings, but numerous base running blunders and errors to go with a late bullpen collapse handed the Falcons their third straight loss.
The defeat put a damper on the Falcons' day but not to be forgotten was sophomore Paul Mellinger's four-hit day at the plate and Jon Lapp's strong pitching performance, the second in as many collegiate starts for the freshman.
“This is a test of character right now. We're in a valley right now, and we need to get out of it,” said Steve DeRiggs, Messiah head coach. “We have no one to blame but ourselves for this.”
Lapp, who allowed just one hit and no earned runs in his first against Eastern Mennonite University Feb. 19, was just as good Friday. He pitched six quality innings, allowing just one run on five hits and one walk. Lapp struck out four, leaving after the sixth inning with the Falcons and Vikings locked in a 1-1 tie. At this point in his career, the freshman sports an impressive 0.84 ERA.
“Jon mixed his pitches very well to keep hitters off balance for six strong innings, working out of trouble when necessary,” said Elliot Thomas, Messiah pitching coach. “We're very excited that Jon has come in as a freshman and pitched as well as he has in his first two starts.”
Sophomore Drew Frankenfield, in his pitching debut with the Falcons, relieved Lapp and retired the side 1-2-3 in the seventh. Messiah added two runs in the home half of the seventh inning on four hits, with Mellinger and junior Tory Arnesen — who added three hits of his own — driving in the runs. This gave the Falcons a 3-1 lead that wouldn't hold up for the duration of the game.
A costly error by Messiah in the top of the eighth allowed the Vikings to knot the game at three runs apiece and the Vikings then took advantage of their hitting opportunities in the ninth, slamming out seven hits to take a 8-3 lead after having trailed by two just an inning earlier.
Senior Jordan Snader knocked Arnesen home with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the ninth inning to cut the deficit to 8-4, but it was too little, too late for Messiah.
For the game, five Vikings pitchers combined to hold the Falcons to just four runs. Messiah left 13 runners on base and had two men thrown out on the base paths. The Falcons also left at least one runner on base in every inning except one.
“We made some late mistakes that just can't happen,” DeRiggs said. “We just can't get this many hits and lose the game.”
There were some positives for the Falcons, however. Mellinger reached base in all five of his plate appearances, collecting four hits and a walk, raising his batting average to a team-high .387 to go with a team-high 12 hits and 14 total bases. Junior Sam Tajiri stole two bases, classmate John Brubaber added two hits of his own, and freshman Jacob Sprengle had an RBI single.
In the end, it was the bullpen that proved costly once again for Messiah. In seven of the nine games for the Falcons in 2011, the team's starting pitcher has allowed two or fewer earned runs, but the squad has been unable to finish games. As of now, opponents have scored more earned runs off Messiah's relievers (15) than its starters (14).
The Falcons, who play nine games in a nine-day span starting with the Salem State contest, will look to pick up their play with a double-header against Brockport State University on Saturday. Game time for the first of two is set for 12 p.m.
