Chester, PA — The Messiah College baseball team claimed a mammoth sweep over MAC Commonwealth foe Widener University Saturday afternoon, winning 5-4 and 12-4 decisions in come-from-behind fashion on the road.
The wins halted a brief, two-game losing streak for Messiah (22-9, 7-2), while keeping the Falcons just a quarter of a game out of first place in the league standings. With scheduling issues keeping Elizabethtown College and its 5-1 league record ahead of Messiah only mathematically, Falcons' head coach Bryan Engle was quick to admit how big Saturday's results were for his club.
“It was a good day for us,” Engle said. “I was extremely proud of our guys' response after a very difficult loss the day before. In one of today's games we didn't play well and were fortunate enough to win, while in the other we were able to rattle the sticks a little bit after a slow start. Either way, I was really encouraged to get the wins today.”
Engle's club was in the midst of just its second losing skid of the season entering Saturday's contests, as a 12-9 loss to York College Thursday and a heartbreaking, 9-7 loss to Widener on Friday fueled Engle's desires.
Messiah responded by holding Widener (19-8, 3-6) to just 14 total hits Saturday — the Pride collected 12 in its single game Friday — in sweeping its seventh double-header of the season in nine opportunities.
“We talked long and hard to our pitching staff about the need to hold down the opposition's offense better than we have been, and we did that today,” Engle said.
Freshman Travis Thome (4-0) was the complete-game winner in Saturday's first contest, limiting Widener to just five hits and one walk while just two of the Pride's four runs were earned. Messiah committed a season-high five errors in the game, and trailed by a 3-0 score after Thome gave up a three-run homer to Widener's Jason Brooke in the bottom of the first inning.
The first-year right-hander then settled in, however, while Engle's club provided just enough offense to capture the needed win. A sacrifice fly from senior Craig Mease drove in the Falcons' first run in the top of the third inning, while a fourth-inning double from junior Ben Kirk and single from senior Kyle Stuckey each carded solo scores to tie the game at 3-3.
Messiah then tacked on the go-ahead run in the fifth inning following a Widener wild pitch, while sophomore Jon-Mike Richards provided an insurance RBI via a groundout to shortstop.
Thome then took over to finish things, retiring seven of Widener's last eight batters — the other reached on an error — as Messiah captured the crucial league victory.
“Travis Thome really threw a nice game after the first inning,” Engle said. “He did a good job with his off-speed pitches, and for a day where the defense behind him did not play well, he stayed focused and composed out there.”
The Falcons scattered 10 hits in the contest, with Mease, Stuckey, senior Ben Snyder and sophomore Adam Ranck all belting two apiece.
“The thing I was most proud of was how we just chipped and chipped away,” Engle said. “Stuckey had a big, two-out RBI single in the fourth to tie the game, and Jon-Mike Richards did a good job of putting the ball in play to drive in our last run in the fifth. It was a good display of patience for us offensively, and coming up with the hits and plays at the plate when we needed them.”
Engle's club would come up with more than enough plays in the batter's box during the days' second contest, as Messiah generated a season-high three long balls to go with 13 hits in the 12-4 win. After being held to just two hits and no runs through the first three innings of play — Widener actually gained a 2-0 lead after the second inning — the Falcons poured on seven runs in their half of the fourth, matching Widener with one-run fifth and sixth innings before a two-RBI triple from Mease highlighted a three-run seventh inning.
“(Widener's) pitcher was throwing great for three innings, but we came up with an offensive series in the fourth inning that was, in my opinion, the deciding moment of the game and probably the series,” Engle said.
That moment came innocently enough, as a strike out from sophomore Jordan Zimmerman and a line out from Kirk opened Messiah's half of the fourth. Following a single from sophomore Sheldon Witmer, Stuckey hit a ground ball back to the pitcher that looked to retire the side.
Instead, Widener's Jerry Benedict slipped while throwing to first, sending his delivery over the head of the Pride's first baseman.
Messiah then put up seven runs — all with two outs — as singles from Snyder, junior Jonny Ebersole and Ranck drove home a total four scores. A three-RBI home run from Richards followed, deflating Widener's mojo while giving Engle's club a new sense of confidence.
“We took advantage of an opportunity that Widener gave us, and that is what good teams do,” Engle said. “After we put up that seven-spot, you could just feel the momentum change.”
Witmer (5-0) then did his job on the mound, pitching a complete game while striking out four and giving up just one walk. He retired three of Widener's next four batters following the Falcons' fourth-inning explosion, keeping the club's lead at 7-2 heading into the fifth.
He then helped himself in the top of the fifth stanza, belting what Engle called “one of the longest home run I've ever seen in person” to right centerfield. Zimmerman then followed with a solo shot to left center in the sixth, helping to offset a pair of single scores from the Pride in the bottom half of those innings.
The Falcons' offense wasn't done at that point, however, as a two-RBI triple from Mease preceded an RBI groundout from Ranck, which scored Mease in the seventh inning. Witmer then allowed a harmless double in the bottom of the inning, forcing a pair of fly outs and a groundout to end the game.
Snyder finished 3-4 at the plate with two runs scored, while the home runs from Richards, Zimmerman and Witmer accounted for five runs. Mease finished 1-2 with two RBI — he walked three times — while Ranck finished 2-5 with three RBI.
“We really swung the sticks in the second game, and we kept fighting and kept getting after it,” Engle said. “I thought that Sheldon Witmer was a big key for us, holding Widener scoreless in their next at-bat following our seven-run fourth. We traded runs with them over the next two innings, but when you've got a reasonable lead that's alright. I thought two of three games in this series could have gone either way, and we're thrilled to get two today. Widener is a good team. To come in here and get two is really big for us.”
Messiah will next take a brief layoff from conference play, as the team will get a home test Tuesday afternoon against The College of New Jersey. Ranked fourth in the latest D3baseball.com Top 25 Poll, TCNJ brings a 22-4 overall record to the Messiah Baseball Complex and Starry Field. Game time for a single nine-inning affair is set for 3:30 p.m.
