Box Score
by Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA - Sophomore starting pitcher
Jon Lapp came up big for the Messiah Falcons (10-19, 3-7 CC) on Friday afternoon, throwing eight strong innings in a 4-2 conference win over the Widener Pride (18-13, 7-6).
“Lapp's pitching was huge for us, especially in a must-win game,” Messiah head baseball coach Steve DeRiggs said. “We need to win this series and it was a very important game, going against their ace. It was just a tremendous, gutsy effort by (Lapp).”
Messiah took advantage of four Pride errors in the contest, putting together a four-run fifth inning that wiped out a 2-0 deficit. Lapp (1-4), last year's Commonwealth Conference Rookie of the Year, pitched eight frames, allowing just five hits and two runs. He walked four and struck out five, doing so to give the Falcons their third consecutive victory after losing 11 of 12.
The Pride got on the board with a run in the first inning and another in the fifth, but the Messiah defense was exceptional at working out of jams with three inning-ending double plays in the first five frames.
Junior
Paul Mellinger snared a line drive in the first inning and doubled the runner off first, freshman
Derek Drake did the same thing in the second inning from right field, and freshman
Zach Brubaker caught a two-on bunt in the fifth inning and doubled the runner off third base. All three were unconventional, but they were huge in keeping the Pride scoring output to a minimum.
The Falcons hit the ball hard early on, but couldn't catch a break. Senior
Sam Tajiri was stranded in the first inning after a leadoff double. Messiah put two runners on – both on errors – but couldn't capitalize on the situation.
Finally, Messiah broke through in the fifth inning when junior
Matt Turman reached on a one-out error and Tajiri singled to put two men on base. Lapp's ground ball put both men in scoring position, and Brown's grounder to third was thrown away, scoring both and tying the game. Mellinger and senior
Wes Hollenbach followed with RBI doubles to give Messiah a 4-2 lead, one that would last for the duration of the contest.
Lapp ran into some trouble in the seventh inning, loading the bases with two walks and a hit by pitch, but escaping with a big strikeout swinging. He ended his eighth and final frame with a strikeout looking, topping off his finest pitching performance of the season.
“We're playing as good as we have all season,” DeRiggs said. “When the pitching is good, we can beat anyone. We are close to our potential at this point. We played mistake-free ball and it kept us in the game.”
Mellinger highlighted the offense with a pair of doubles, a run scored, and an RBI to go with his impressive double play in the first inning. Tajiri and Hollenbach each came through with a single, double, and a walk.
“We swung the bat well, especially against the conference ERA leader in (Jason Ferrie),” DeRiggs said. “We hit the ball hard, although it was right at them. We didn't do a good job of finishing things off, and we left some men on base, but overall I thought it was a good effort.”
Senior
Zach Adams pitched the ninth inning, throwing a hitless frame to nail down his fifth save of the season. With the save, Adams tied both the single-season and career (6) Messiah record.
The Falcons play the second and third games of their three-game conference series with Widener tomorrow starting at 12:00 p.m.
