By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Lakewood, NJ — Wednesday's loss to Misericordia University didn't even begin to tell the frustration Messiah felt.
Missed opportunities and nine strikeouts — six of them looking — overshadowed a strong pitching performance from senior captain Travis Thome, as the Falcons dropped a 3-1 decision to Misericordia (29-14) at FirstEnergy Park in the first game of the NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Regional tournament.
“We just didn't have enough good at-bats today,” said Steve DeRiggs, Messiah head baseball coach. “Our pitching was good enough, but in critical situations, we just didn't have the good at-bats we needed.”
It was Messiah's first loss in three weeks, ending a six-game winning streak for the Falcons' team that rolled through the Commonwealth Conference Tournament, winning three straight playoff games en route to the title.
Adding to the sting of the loss was the result of Wednesday's second game, as top-seeded Kean University was shocked 3-2 by eighth-seed Catholic University. That result pits the Falcons against the Cougars — a team ranked third in the latest NCBWA Top 25 Poll — at a time to be determined Thursday. If Messiah can get past Kean, the team will need an additional five straight victories over the next three days to advance to the NCAA Division III College World Series.
In Wednesday's match-up, pitching stole the show, as both Messiah's Thome and Misericordia University's Pat Clark went the distance. Scoring was infrequent, but the Cougars hit far better with men on base (.353) in the game than the Falcons did (.176), and that was the difference in the contest.
Messiah (25-18) pieced together a run in the third inning, as sophomore Paul Mellinger reached on an error, advanced to second base on a sacrifice by senior Sean Hart, and scored on junior John Brubaker's single. It gave Messiah a one-run lead, and it was this style of small ball baseball that would dominate the way both teams played their games.
The Cougars responded with a run in their half of the third inning, doing so on three straight singles, the last of which drove in a run. With the bases loaded, the damage against Messiah could have been worse, but Thome bore down and got a tough strikeout to keep the score knotted at one run apiece.
Unfortunately for Thome, that was all the offensive support he would get in the game, as the Falcons failed to muster a run in their final six frames at-bat, handing Thome (6-6) the loss for the day.
Misericordia tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning, capitalizing on a pair of singles and walks, plus a sacrifice fly, giving the fourth-seeded Cougars a 3-1 lead that would hold up for the rest of the game.
The Falcons put themselves in prime position to score in each of the final three innings, as the leadoff batter singled to start off all three frames. Not once did he come around to score though, as costly strikeouts demoralized a Falcons team that now has its back to the wall in the post-season.
Sophomore Drew Frankenfield started the Falcons' final chance with a leadoff single in the top of the ninth inning. It was the third hit of the game for Frankenfield, who doubled in the second and also started the seventh inning with a base hit.
A fly out and strikeout put the Falcons one out away from defeat before a pinch-hit single from senior Jordan Snader kept the game alive, putting two on and two out for Messiah. It wasn't meant to be however, as the ninth strikeout of the game for the Falcons' offense effectively ended the game.
“Our final three innings especially, we just need to get hits with runners in scoring position,” DeRiggs said. “We got hits for the day, but just not in timely situations. We bunted, got people over, but had just too many called third strikes.”
Not to be forgotten, Thome was his usual solid self on the mound, as the senior threw his seventh complete game of the season. In doing so, he continued his assault on the school's record book, tying the single-season record for games started (12) while breaking the mark for innings pitched in a season (87.1), a mark held by his former coach, Bryan Engle ('03).
“All I can say about Thome is that I have the utmost respect for his heart, his will and his preparation for the game,” DeRiggs said. “It is unmatched by any player I have ever been associated with. He pitched very well for us. He had one inning that was a little rough and they bunched together two runs, but he pitched well enough to keep us in the game. He gave us a great opportunity to win.”
Thome mixed his pitches well, inducing 12 ground outs, eight fly outs and three strikeouts for the game. Twice he worked his way out of bases-loaded jams, including the seventh inning, when he got a 6-4-3 double play to keep the Cougars off the board.
There were some bright spots on the offense, led by Frankenfield's three-hit day. Brubaker also continued his hot hitting with a 2-4 day at the plate and another flawless day in the field from the shortstop position. For the Lancaster, Pa. native, Brubaker has now collected six consecutive multiple-hit games; during that span he is batting .522 (12-for-23) with six runs scored.
Messiah's next game is set for Thursday at 12 p.m., but the weather conditions will likely move that game back to later in the day. Visit the schedule page of the official website of the Mid-Atlantic Regional for the most updated schedule information.
