Messiah v. Minnesota-Morris Box Score - Messiah v. Bethel Box Score
By Bryn Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Clermont, FL — Messiah kicked off its spring break trip to the Orlando area on an extremely positive note Monday.
The warm sun and temperatures in the upper 70's had little to do with it.
The Falcons not only shut out the University of Minnesota-Morris 5-0 and easily handled Bethel University 4-1, but the day marked the return of junior pitcher Jess Rhoads, arguably the most important member of the Falcons' national championship team from two years ago. Rhoads missed the beginning of the season, as well as the conclusion of last year's post-season, with a painful right knee injury.
Monday, she was back in full form.
Starting in the pitching circle against Minnesota-Morris, Rhoads showed absolutely no signs of rust, despite not pitching in any of the first four games of the 2011 season. She hurled four hitless innings against the Cougars — surrendering just a leadoff walk — while striking out nine of the 13 hitters she faced.
Freshman Sara Dietrich pitched two hitless innings after Rhoads (1-0) departed, striking out five and allowing one walk, before giving way to classmate Shayna Weber. The combined no-hitter was ruined with one out in the seventh on a single by Minnesota-Morris' Kristy Hoge, but Weber closed out the one-hit shutout by retiring the final two hitters.
"Jess would have pitched a perfect game if not for the leadoff walk she allowed," said Messiah head coach, Amy Weaver. "She pitched awesome today."
The Falcons scored four runs in the top of the third and added a fifth run in the seventh. In the third, junior Ashley Lehman singled. She scored two batters later on junior Abi Buchler's sacrifice fly. Classmate Jacki Merkel followed with a single and scored on freshman Krista Ammon's triple. Sophomore Stephanie Schell singled, and after advancing on an error, scored when junior Jess Brown singled.
In the seventh, Lehman worked a walk, stole second and scored on a single by freshman sensation Sara Seneca.
In the second game against Bethel, the Falcons pitched sophomore Jocelyn Hickey. She pitched a complete game, allowing just four hits and one run.
In the top of the second inning, the Royals worked a run on two singles, a sacrifice, and a groundout.
Messiah answered back in the bottom of the second. Ammon led off with a homer. Brown followed with a walk and classmate Lauren Seneca reached on a two-base error. Sophomore Myranda Cox singled in two runs, giving the Falcons a lead they would not relinquish.
Weaver's club added a fourth run in the fifth inning after freshman pinch-hitter Amanda Fife singled, advanced to second on Merkel's sacrifice bunt, reached third on a single by Ammon and scored on an error by the catcher.
With the victory, the Falcons improved to 5-1 on the season. Hickey won her second game of the season, without a defeat.
"Everything went pretty smoothly today," Weaver said. "I was impressed with our hitting. Jess and Jocelyn both pitched very well. We fielded well and played great overall as a team."
Messiah (5-1) will continue its Florida trip with little time to enjoy the surroundings, as the team will play both Manhattanville College and St. Joseph College Tuesday. Game time against the Valiants is set for 9 a.m.
