Keene State Box Score I
FDU-FLorham Box Score
Clermont, FL – Messiah suffered their first Spring Break defeat Thursday afternoon at Legends Way Ballpark. The Falcons' offense was limited to only one run against Keene State in their 4-1 loss to the Owls. Messiah took no time bouncing back, though, scoring five runs on eight hits in their 5-0 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham later that afternoon.
In the first game, the Falcons struggled at the plate, striking out a season high 10 times. Despite having runners on base in six of seven innings, Messiah managed to score only one run and left five stranded on-base.
Both teams were held scoreless into the bottom of the third inning, but a costly mistake in the outfield allowed two Keene State runs to score. A walk and a single set the stage for two more to cross the plate; creating a 4-0 deficit for the Falcons.
“It's hard to have a costly mistake with two outs,” head coach
Amy Weaver said. “But we had plenty of time to get back in the game, though. Keene's pitchers did a nice job and we had a difficult time at bat.”
In the top of the fourth, Messiah had a tough time getting the ball past the infield, but were able to break through in the fifth.
The Falcons' solitary run was scored when sophomore
Krista Ammon drew a one-out walk and advanced to second on a single from freshman
Nicole Blantz. With runners in scoring position and a four-run deficit, Messiah attempted to be aggressive on the bases, but to no avail. Ammon was caught stealing for the second out of the inning, yet Blantz advanced to third on a wild pitch. The aggressiveness eventually paid off for the Falcons, as sophomore
Sarah Seneca singled through the right side to score Blantz and bring Messiah's deficit to three.
Unfortunately, Keene State remained in the driver's seat for the last two innings, as their second pitcher, Julia Nolan, allowed only one hit and struck out five of the last seven batters.
Junior
Jocelyn Hickey (3-1) and sophomore Sara Dietrich both threw three innings with Hickey taking the loss.
Messiah didn't allow the defeat to keep them down for long, as they rallied in their second game against Fairleigh Dickinson-Florham for the 5-0 win.
Led by senior Sara Seneca, who went 2 for 4 with a triple, an RBI, and a stolen base, the Falcons tallied runs in four of six innings played.
In the bottom of the first inning, Messiah's offense was on the attack as S. Seneca took advantage of an infield error, making her way on base and subsequently stealing second. Senior
Abi Buchler's sacrifice bunt was mishandled by the infield, allowing S. Seneca to move to third and Buchler continued to second base.
With runners in scoring position, senior Jacelyn Merkel's sacrifice fly to right field was deep enough to score S. Seneca and move Buchler to third. In the next at-bat, junior
Stephanie Schell singled to score Buchler and put Messiah in the lead, 2-0.
“It's always nice to score first, especially after the loss [to Keene State],” Weaver said. “We decided to be more aggressive on the bases this game and it paid off.”
In the second, S. Seneca and Buchler joined forces once again to score for the Falcons. This time, S. Seneca roped a two-out triple and Buchler brought her home with a single.
The Falcons scored one run in both the fourth and fifth innings to seal the 5-0 victory.
Freshman
Mallory Rutledge (2-2) threw four innings to earn the win, allowing only two hits, one walk, and striking out one batter, while Hickey struck out two and allowed only one hit in three innings of work.
Messiah concludes their Spring Break games in Clermont, Florida tomorrow. They will face Ithaca College at 1:00 p.m. and Bates College at 3:00 p.m.
