Box Score
Ft. Pierce, FL - The Messiah Falcons (3-8) lost, 13-1, to the St. Scholastica Saints (5-5) in seven innings of play on Wednesday. The loss drops the Falcons to 2-3 on their Florida road trip.
Strapped for pitchers, Messiah started senior relief pitcher
Davin Okerblom in his first career collegiate start. Okerblom went two innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks, while striking out three. Okerblom (0-2) received the loss for the contest.
Junior
Galen Halteman and sophomores
Chris Gill and
Colby Helgerson combined to pitch the final four innings for Messiah.
Offensively, the Falcons were held hitless by St. Scholastica until freshman
Jon Heisey doubled to lead off the fourth inning. Heisey was moved to third base on junior
Paul Mellinger's deep fly ball, and scored on sophomore
Jacob Sprengle's RBI groundout.
The Falcons loaded the bases in the fifth inning on a pair of hit by pitches and a walk but couldn't convert before going down 1-2-3 in both the sixth and seventh innings.
In addition to recording one hit, Messiah wasn't helped by eight walks from the pitchers and three errors in the field.
The Falcons were able to work most of the roster into the game, as multiple players saw their first action of 2012. Highlighting the collegiate debuts was junior catcher Matt Fenton, a walk-on at the start of the season. Fenton worked a scoreless frame behind the plate, including an impressive play on a swinging bunt to begin the seventh inning.
Messiah plays again on Thursday, a matchup against Rutgers University of Camden. Game time for the contest is slated for 9:00 a.m. Messiah kicks off its conference play this weekend with a doubleheader against Lebanon Valley College on Saturday and a single game on Monday.
