Box Score
By Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
West Lawn, PA — A league preseason coaches' poll picked Messiah to finish fourth in the seven-team Commonwealth Conference standings.
Fortunately for the Falcons, that poll was dead wrong.
Following a nail-biting, 4-3 victory over Elizabethtown College in Friday's Commonwealth Conference Tournament Second Round, Messiah (24-17) is the unofficial odds-on favorite to win the league championship. With the Blue Jays' 6-5 victory over Alvernia University in Friday's elimination game, the Falcons and E'Town will again square off Satruday at 12 p.m., a rematch of the 2008 Commonwealth Conference championship that Messiah won.
If the Falcons win tomorrow's game against Elizabethtown (19-18), they will officially be crowned the MAC champions, subsequently advancing to the NCAA Tournament in the process.
Should the Falcons lose the first game tomorrow, Messiah still has another chance at the title and can be named champions by winning a 3 p.m. re-match.
Simply put, since it is a double-elimination tournament and the Falcons are 2-0 so far compared to the Blue Jays' 2-1 record, Messiah needs to win just one of the two games tomorrow to win the conference championship. E'Town needs two.
Either way, it's been an incredible turnaround for a Messiah team that started the season just 4-11 following a rough Florida spring break trip. Since then, the Falcons have won 20 of 26 games and now are in prime position to capture the fourth conference championship in the school's history.
“This is a testimony to our young men,” said Steve DeRiggs, Messiah head baseball coach. “They didn't despair after a rough start to the season, and they learned a valuable life lesson. Now they're going to get the chance to play for a championship.”
Junior Tory Arnesen led the way for Messiah Friday, as the junior pitcher threw a quality start, picked up the win, and added a two-run home run at the plate. It was a performance that showed why Arnesen (7-2) was selected as a First-Team All-Conference hurler this year.
“Tory was selected first team for the conference for a reason, and he's been a large part of our success this season,” DeRiggs said. “He's been great with both the stick and as a pitcher, and it's critical to have this kind of leadership. He's played very well in the tournament for us.”
The outcome of Friday's tilt with Elizabethtown appeared to be in jeopardy early on, as the Blue Jays scratched out an early run on a base hit and a pair of errors in the top half of the first inning.
The Falcons responded with four runs in the bottom of the third inning, though. Junior Wes Hollenbach doubled and scored when classmate Ryan Brown reached on a two-base error. Arnesen then gave himself some breathing room on the mound, when he blasted a two-run shot to right field, his fourth long ball of the year.
For Arnesen, it was the second game this season he has pitched and served as his team's designated hitter — he has hit a home run in both of those games.
Sophomore Drew Frankenfield followed Arnesen's home run with a triple to deep center field and then freshman Jon Lapp hit an RBI single to put the Falcons up 4-1, completing a collective cycle for the team in the bottom of the stanza.
A superb defensive effort by the Falcons helped out Arnesen in the top of the sixth inning, as the Falcons turned a rare 1-6-5-4 double play, getting the lead runner near third base in a rundown and the hitter trying to take second base on the play.
The Blue Jays scored two runs in the seventh inning to make it a 4-3 game, before junior Zach Adams came into the game in relief and got a ground ball out to send the game to the eighth inning.
Senior Josh Hershberger took over for Adams in the eighth inning and induced a pop up with the bases loaded to escape the jam he inherited. Hershberger closed the door on the Blue Jays in the ninth inning, retiring all three hitters for his fourth save of the season.
“Sometimes you go with your gut,” DeRiggs said. “We put (Hershberger) into a difficult situation and he responded. He saved the game, literally. We're very happy to have him.”
Arnesen led the way offensively with his home run and two runs batted in, giving him four RBI so far in the two tournament games. Juniors John Brubaker and Hollenbach added two hits apiece, while Frankenfield singled, tripled and scored a run.
“Drew has been hitting the ball very well for the last three weeks,” DeRiggs said. “He hits it exceptionally hard and he drives the ball. He's been a much-needed tonic to our sputtering offense recently. Pitching has carried our team and we've needed the timely hitting we've gotten. Drew has earned every bit of playing time this year.”
Messiah now straps it on for a chance — or pair of chances — at the Commonwealth crown, as the team attempts to add a plaque to the 2008, 2005 and 2003 trophies hanging in the Falcons' Sollenberger Sports Center.
“We're playing for the ultimate prize tomorrow,” DeRiggs said. “Our young men need to come out with a goal and hopefully not play tight. They need to see the prize and conduct themselves as Messiah citizens. Hopefully that will be enough to win it.”
