Box Score Game 1 -
Box Score Game 2
Grantham, PA - A four-run sixth inning broke open a 2-1 game for Messiah College on Saturday, with the Falcons going up 6-1 en route to a 6-2 win. Senior
Ashley Lehman went 2-3 at the plate for Messiah, collecting three RBI.
The game started quickly for the Falcons, with Lehman bringing home
Nicole Blantz with a single to left field. Blantz had doubled with one out, the first of two doubles for her on the day.
The Crusaders—entering in second place in the Commonwealth behind Messiah—would battle back in the fourth inning. A one-out double by Danielle Kitchen would be followed by a fly out to center field, with Kitchen tagging up and advancing to third. Felicia McKenna then grounded to short, with
Lauren Seneca's throw getting by first baseman
Krista Ammon on a short hop. With Kitchen crossing the plate with the game-tying run, Ammon collected the carom and threw out McKenna as she was heading for second base.
Messiah earned back the lead in the bottom of the same inning, with Sara Dietrich leading off the frame with a single and eventually scoring on a sac fly to center field by
Amanda Fife.
The score would remain 2-1 in Messiah's favor until the sixth inning, but only because of a couple of defensive highlights by the hosts. In the top of the fifth inning, the Crusaders' Jacklyn Torres tried to go first-to-third on a base hit up the middle with two outs. Messiah center fielder Jacklyn Merkyl made a clean scoop and fired a strike to Lehman at third base to tag out Torres and end the frame.
In the top of the sixth inning, it was Lehman again ending a Crusaders' threat—this time by way of a quick grab at third base with a runner on third. Lehman stabbed the hard hit grounder on the line, firing a strike to Ammon at first to protect the 2-1 lead.
With Lehman's defense providing the game's highlight to that point, Messiah broke the game open with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. In the middle of the flurry was Lehman--
last week's Commonwealth Player of the Week-- with a two-run single.
The Falcons finished with 11 hits, with Sara Dietrich pitching all seven innings and allowing only six his and two walks. She struck out four batters and improved to 12-2 on the year.
Alvernia's Brittanie Wolfe entered the game as the Crusaders' leader in wins (13), innings pitched (94.2), and ERA (1.92). She completed six innings, giving up five earned runs while not striking out any batters.
Game Two
Game two also started off quickly for the Falcons, as they took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Merkyl delivered the big blow with a two-run single with one out, scoring
Sarah Seneca and Blantz.
Stephanie Schell brought Merkyl home with a double to right centerfield.
The Falcons would push their lead to 5-0 in the second inning, with both Lehman and Merkyl collecting RBI singles. Messiah would threaten to add more, loading the bases before Dietrich took a called third strike to end the threat.
Alvernia would draw near the Falcons in the third inning, taking advantage of Falcons' error. The inning started off with two routine groundouts before a single and fielder's choice put Katie Manowski and Miranda Peto on second and first, respectively. Samantha Penk followed with a single to left field, with Messiah's Schell throwing home on the play. Manowski—running through her coach's stop sign at third base—seemed dead at the plate before
Krista Ammon cut off the throw home believing she could nab Peto on her way to third base. However, Ammon's throw to third base sailed high and into left field, allowing Peto to score.
The Crusaders' Shannon Grimm followed with an RBI single to make it a 5-3 game.
Now in a tight game, the Crusaders threatened again in the top of the fourth inning, put runners on first and second with one out. Jacklyn Torres followed with a hard grounder to Lehman at third base, with the senior retreating to step on third and then throw to first for an inning-ending double play.
With momentum back on their side, the Falcons added two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning in a two-run home run by Schell. Her drive over the left field fence followed an error by the Crusaders' infield that allowed Merkyl to reach first.
With a 7-3 lead, freshman
Mallory Rutledge continued to roll on the mound. She would finish the day with five innings pitched, allowing five hits and striking out five batters.
The Falcons ended the game early in the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring four more runs to push the lead to a final of 11-3. Messiah collected four hits in the fame, including a two-run single by Merkyl into right field.
With the double-header sweep Messiah moves to 27-6, including 10-0 in the Commonwealth Conference. Alvernia falls to 24-8, 6-4 in the conference.
Messiah next plays on Saturday, April 21, when they travel to Arcadia University for a double-header. Game one is set to start at 1:00 p.m.
