Box Score Game 1 I
Box Score Game 2
St. Davids, PA – The Messiah College Falcons continued their offensive onslaught Wednesday against Eastern University. The Falcons picked up two solid wins, 3-2 and 10-1, by outhitting their opponents 18-6 and outscoring them 13-3.
Game One
In the first game, Messiah (31-6, 12-0) posted two runs in the opening frame to take the early lead. Two singles and back-to-back stolen bases by sophomore
Sarah Seneca (2 for 4) and senior
Ashley Lehman (3 for 3) set the stage for senior
Jaclyn Merkel. Merkel (1 for 2, 2 RBI) drove the ball to center field to bring in both runs and grab her 33
rd and 34
th RBI.
Junior starting pitcher Sara Dietrich (14-2) held the Eagles to only one hit through the first three innings, but Eastern broke through in the bottom of the fourth to even things out at 2-2.
After swapping single hits in the fifth inning, the Falcons found their one-two punch in Lehman and junior
Stephanie Schell. Lehman singled to start the inning and advanced to second on a defensive error. Merkel's sacrifice bunt allowed Lehman to gain third, but it was a double off the bat of Schell (1 for 3, 1 RBI) that drove in the go-ahead run for Messiah.
After a lead-off walk, Dietrich closed out the seventh with a fly-out and two strike outs.
Game Two
The bats continued to smolder in the second game as the Falcons cranked out three hits and took advantage of two throwing errors to score four runs in the first inning.
Once again, S. Seneca (1 for 3) got on base in her opening at-bat and stole second. This time it was freshman
Nicole Blantz (2 for 3, 1 RBI) who drove in the Falcons' first run in with a single up the middle. The next batter, Lehman (2 for 4, 1 RBI) , looked to lay down the sacrifice bunt but a throwing error by the catcher gave Lehman not only first, but also second. Good heads-up base running allowed Blantz to score, bringing Messiah's lead to 2-0. After a successful sacrifice bunt by Merkel that moved Lehman to third, Schell (2 for 3, 4 RBI) launched the ball over the left field fence for her second homerun of the season.
With a 4-0 lead, freshman pitcher
Mallory Rutledge's confidence was soaring as she plowed through the first three batters for a quick 1-2-3 first inning. The second and third innings were much of the same as Rutledge allowed only one base-runner (hit-by-pitch) and retired the other six batters.
Messiah added a single run in the top of the third on two hits and one error, yet erupted for four more runs in the fourth.
Senior
Lauren Seneca, S. Seneca, and Blantz provided consecutive singles to load the bases for Lehman. Lehman delivered a hit to right field to plate the first Seneca. A patient at-bat by Merkel drew a walk and scored the second Seneca. Schell reached on a fielder's choice to score Blantz and sophomore
Krista Ammon's ground out to second base drove in the final run of the inning.
Despite Rutledge's (9-2) dominance, her only major blemish came in the bottom of the fourth when she gave up a two-out solo homerun to the Eagles' strongest hitter, Maggie McGowan (.393).
Messiah posted one more run in the fifth and held Eastern scoreless in the bottom half of the inning to take home the 10-1, five-inning victory.
The Falcon will wrap up their regular season play on Saturday with a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader at Elizabethtown College. Game one is slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.
