Box Score
By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Westminster, MD — When the 2011 season is complete, Messiah will have a winning record in the books.
The Falcons beat McDaniel College, 8-6, in Wednesday non-conference action, assuring Messiah (21-17) of a winning season — the program's third in the last four years.
“Clinching a winning record for the season was very gratifying,” said Steve DeRiggs, Messiah head baseball coach. “It's a real positive thing. We lost a lot of talent last year, and returned just four starting seniors. The players have been much more focused and concentrated since starting the season 2-9, and the fact that we're now guaranteed a winning record is a great thing.”
The Falcons — who beat the Green Terror, 14-13, last year on a walk-off hit — jumped on the board early with two runs in the top half of the first inning and four more in the third inning. The Falcons accumulated 12 hits and eight runs on the day, providing freshman starting pitcher Jon Lapp with plenty of run support on the mound.
Lapp (4-2), making his seventh career start for Messiah, wasn't as sharp as normal, but still effective enough to earn a win. Lapp threw seven innings, pitching into the eighth against McDaniel (12-20), for his longest collegiate outing to date. He allowed eight hits, one walk and struck out four batters.
“Jon had a good fastball today but not the best command,” DeRiggs said. “Still though, he's been very good, especially for a freshman, and he's pitched well at the collegiate level. Four wins as a freshman is real solid to build off of. Sometimes as a starter, you don't have your best stuff, but you still get the 'W.' He's a real competitor for us.”
Lapp, who departed in the eighth inning with Messiah up 8-5, gave the ball to junior Zach Adams. Adams, who has been Messiah's top relief pitcher this season, established a new career school record with his 43rd career relief appearance on the mound. Adams was especially effective Wednesday, as he inherited a runner on third base with no one out and worked his way out without allowing the runner to score, getting a pair of pop ups and a ground ball.
“Zach has been a tower of strength for us over his last six or seven outings,” DeRiggs said. “We feel confident enough in him that at any point in the game, we would put him in, whether he was facing a right-handed or left-handed batter. He's been pitching extremely well for us.”
Senior Josh Hershberger pitched the ninth inning in relief, earning his third save of the season.
Offensively, the Falcons received a strong team effort, as eight of the nine starters collected a hit. Junior Wes Hollenbach led the way with three, while classmates Tory Arnesen and John Brubaker added two apiece. Senior Sean Hart hit the first home run of his collegiate career, and junior Ryan Brown, senior Jamie Scott and freshman David Sletta drove in runs as well.
“I was pleased with the many multi-hit days,” DeRiggs said. “I think we left far too many men on base, especially in the later innings, and we are going to need to cash in during the tournament. We also ran the bases well today.”
Defensively, the Falcons weren't as sharp, making three errors — all in the first two frames of the game — but the team settled down and took advantage of three Green Terror errors on the day as well.
The Falcons have the weekend off before a rescheduled home contest against York College wraps up the regular-season Monday. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.
