Box Score
Grantham, PA - The Messiah Falcons (5-12, 1-3) came up on the wrong side of a 8-1 decision with the Alvernia Crusaders in the first contest of a three-game weekend conference series.
Messiah received another strong outing from senior ace
Tory Arnesen, but couldn't back him defensively, making four errors. Five of the six runs charged against Arnesen were unearned, bringing the Falcons' total of unearned runs given up since returning from their Florida spring break trip at 19; Messiah has also committed 19 errors in 41 defensive innings, an average of nearly one error every other frame.
“The game is simple,” Messiah head baseball coach Steve DeRiggs said. “They hit, you catch it, you throw it. And we just haven't been doing our job in the field. It's exasperating to see the errors. We're not making the routine defensive play, and we made it last year with the same personnel.”
Arnesen and Alvernia starter Andrew Kirk engaged in a pitching battle early, with neither offense budging through the first three innings. The Falcons' bats were silent against Kirk, a former D3baseball All-American and Commonwealth Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Messiah registered just five hits and one run on the day, although a bases-loaded opportunity in the bottom of the seventh inning was squandered when senior
Sam Tajiri's hard line drive found its way right to the second baseman.
Meanwhile, the Falcons' defense dug Arnesen into a hole, committing two errors in the fourth and two more in the sixth, putting Arnesen in a 6-0 deficit when he was removed in the seventh inning.
Arnesen (2-2) received the loss for the day, giving up six runs (one earned) on 11 hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.
Junior
Matt Turman was the only member of the Messiah offense to register multiple hits, and the team batted just .167 in the game.
Messiah plays again tomorrow with a road doubleheader against Alvernia, completing the conference series with its foes. The first of the two contests will be played at 12 p.m.
“I'd like to see us have a little bit of pride tomorrow,” DeRiggs said. “I would like to see us play with energy and utilize our fundamentals. We're a good team, and we're playing a good team. We are playing hard, but I would like to see us turn it around.”
