Box Score Game 1 -
Box Score Game 2
Grantham, PA - As the spring warmth continued to rise, the Messiah College Falcons kept pace as their hot streak moved to five on Thursday with an 8-0 win over Dickinson College in the first game of a double-header. The Falcons scored four runs in the bottom of the 6th inning to bring the game to an end before the 7th inning could be played.
Senior second baseman
Abi Buchler put the Falcons on the board in the 3rd inning with a sac fly to leftfield that scored freshman
Carley Neal. Senior Jacklyn Merkel followed Buchler with an RBI double as
Sarah Seneca crossed the plate to make it 2-0.
Seneca would add two RBI of her own in the bottom of the 6th innining with a bases-loaded single to right field. The bases would clear on a throwing error by the Red Devils.
Sophomore Sara Dietrich followed up her
10-inning shutout on Tuesday with another six innings of scoreless ball. She allowed four hits and four walks while striking out six batters. Combined with her performance on Tuesday against LVC and
last week against Ithaca, Dietrich has pitched 20 straight innings of scoreless ball.
"She pretty much dominated the game," Messiah head coach
Amy Weaver said. "She's been throwing really well, and today she had a great presence out there."
Game Two
In the second game, Messiah College scored four runs in the 2nd inning and three runs in the 4th inning to take a 7-2 lead. Single runs in each the 5th and 6th innings contributed the Falcons eventually earning a 9-3 victory over Dickinson College.
In the 2nd inning, the Falcons collected five singles-- and contributed from a bases-loaded error by the Red Devils-- to score four runs. Senior
Ashley Lehman also collected an bases-loaded RBI single in the frame.
In the 4th inning, big RBI hits came off the bats of senior Jacklyn Merkel (triple) and sophomore
Amanda Fife (single) as Messiah broke the game open.
"You can't ask for more from the offense," Weaver said, reflecting on her team's 9 runs in the second game-- and 17 on the day. "These were two big wins for us-- we just want to keep playing well."
Junior
Jocelyn Hickey collected the win, going six innings while giving up six hits and two earned runs.
With the two wins, the Falcons are riding a six-game win streak and improve to 12-4 overall. Dickinson falls to 4-12.
The Falcons return to action on Saturday, March 24, when they host Alvernia University at 1:00 p.m. for a Commonwealth double-header.
