Game 1 Box Score - Game 2 Box Score
By Bryn Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA — Two streaks continued Saturday as Messiah swept visiting Arcadia University in the team's home openers, 4-0 and 3-0. With the wins, the Falcons' winning streak climbed to six, and junior pitcher Jess Rhoads' hitless streak rose to 35 and two thirds innings.
It was in Game One that the latter occurred, as Rhoads pitched six hitless innings and struck out 10. She didn't allow a single base runner until she walked Arcadia's Leanda Helms with one out in the sixth. Freshman Sara Dietrich relieved Rhoads (7-0) and pitched a hitless inning in the seventh, completing the team no-hitter.
“Jess's arm was starting to hurt, so we took her out,” said Messiah head coach, Amy Weaver. “She threw well. She totally shut down Arcadia today.”
One run would have been more than enough for Rhoads to collect her seventh victory of the season. Instead, the team gave her four.
In the second inning, sophomore Stephanie Schell led off with a single and scored on junior Lauren Seneca's double to left center field.
In the third, junior Abi Buchler began the rally with a single through the left side. Classmate Jacki Merkel reached on an error by the second baseman, and Buchler and Merkel advanced to third on Dietrich's sacrifice bunt. Freshman Krista Ammon singled to right, scoring Buchler. After Ammon stole second, Schell singled to right, scoring Ammon and Merkel.
The Falcons couldn't produce any more runs as Arcadia's pitcher, Kelsey Roberts, pitched a solid game, allowing three earned runs and striking out seven in six innings of work. But against Rhoads and the Falcons, one run is usually all it takes.
The Falcons' bats were relatively quiet in the second game, collecting just six hits and three runs. Again, it was more than enough though.
The Falcons sent sophomore Jocelyn Hickey to the pitching circle, and Hickey turned in arguably her finest performance of the season: She pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout, allowing just three walks while striking out eight. With the victory, Hickey improved to 4-1 on the season.
In the bottom of the second, Ammon belted a double to center field, advanced to third on Schell's grounder and scored on Lauren Seneca's infield single. Seneca advanced to second on a passed ball, and scored on sophomore Myranda Cox's single.
The Falcons provided their third run in the bottom of the third. With one out, junior Jess Brown singled up the middle. She advanced to second on Ammon's groundout and scored on a single form Schell.
In the double-header, Messiah scored more runs (seven) than the club's pitchers allowed hits (four). They Falcons improved to 14-2 on the season, including a flawless 4-0 mark in Commonwealth Conference play. Arcadia dropped to 9-5 and 0-2.
“Our pitchers pitched very well today,” Weaver said. “After Jess, Jocelyn only gave up four hits. She seemed to be in a groove all game and she shut them down.”
The Falcons will next host Gettysburg College Monday. Game one of a double-dip is slated to begin at 3 p.m.
