Box Score
By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Auburndale, FL — The sunshine, warm weather and near perfect baseball-playing conditions ended for Messiah Wednesday.
The Falcons couldn't have been more pleased.
The squad ended its seven-game Florida spring break trip with a hard-fought, 4-0 loss against a top-notch Keystone College team Wednesday afternoon, concluding their stay in the Sunshine State with a disappointing 2-5 record. Despite that fact, Messiah (4-11) left on what head coach Steve DeRiggs considered a high note, keeping an explosive Giants team from ever catching fire.
“That was a solid ballclub we just played,” DeRiggs said. “We had a good effort. It was a good way to end it with this game. We ended the Florida spring break a much better team than when we started.”
A disappointing offensive showing spoiled a fine pitching performance by freshman Jon Lapp (0-1), who threw six strong innings. Lapp allowed three earned runs on nine hits and a walk, holding the Giants — a group that batted .370 as a team last season — in check.
“That was a heck of a game against an outstanding hitting team,” said DeRiggs of his pitcher who now owns a 2.16 ERA in his first three collegiate starts.
Junior Davin Okerblom threw two scoreless innings in relief without allowing a hit. In fact, from the first inning on, the Falcons' pitchers allowed just one run against the Giants, and it was unearned.
Messiah collected just two hits at the plate — a first-inning single by junior Sam Tajiri and an eighth-inning single by classmate Wes Hollenbach — although the Falcons did draw six walks and three hit by pitches.
A late rally by the Falcons looked like it might be enough for the team to overtake Keystone (4-3), as senior Jamie Scott worked a one-out walk and classmate Sean Hart followed with a walk of his own, but Messiah couldn't register any runs.
For the day, the Falcons left 11 men on base, including a bases-loaded situation in the second inning. Messiah — which left two runners on base in each of the last two innings — also committed a season-high seven errors on the day.
The Falcons end the Florida road trip at 4-11 after having gone 2-5 during the spring break, a virtually identical record to the 2-6 mark the Falcons brought in. Next up for Messiah is an away double-header against Albright College, the first of Commonwealth Conference action for the Falcons. Game time is slated for 12 p.m.
