Box Score
by Cody Swartz, GoMessiah.com reporter
Newport News, VA - Thursday's loss to the fourth-seeded Rowan Profs leaves the Messiah Falcons (20-24) with their backs to the wall in the NCAA Regional tournament. Fortunately, the Falcons have been in this situation before and they've thrived.
Messiah dropped a 9-6 decision to the Profs, the Falcons' first loss since a 3-0 loss to McDaniel College back on April 25. The Falcons had won four straight in the playoffs – three to win the Commonwealth Conference championship – and the opening contest of the regional playoffs, a
3-1 win over No. 1 seeded Christopher Newport University before they were just outplayed by the Profs.
“(Rowan) just came out, swung the stick, and got 17 hits,” Messiah head coach Steve DeRiggs said. “They earned the win. We didn't lose it so much as they won that game. We didn't give them any additional opportunities. They just flat out outplayed us.”
The Profs jumped to an early lead, putting three runs on the board in the home half of the first inning against senior starter
Wes Hollenbach (4-2) of the Falcons. Hollenbach, who pitched a gem in the conference championship game, fell behind early, giving up a pair of hits and three walks in the first frame.
“Wes has been so much of a positive influence on us,” DeRiggs said. “Today he was a little off and he fell behind early in the count. He didn't get into a great tempo or rhythm and this is a great-hitting team we played. They have over 30 wins, and it was going to be a difficult task for Wes. He's given us all he has had over the last month.”
Like they have done so many times this season, the Falcons jumped right back and countered Rowan's three runs with three of their own.
Senior
John Brubaker – who finished the day 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored – started the rally with a double, freshman
Derek Drake worked a walk, and sophomore
Jacob Sprengle beat out a textbook sacrifice bunt to load the bases. Freshman
Jon Heisey bounced into a fielder's choice, scoring Brubaker, and Drake then scored on an errant pickoff attempt. With two outs, Lapp reached on a strikeout, scoring Heisey from third base when the catcher's throw went into the outfield.
The Profs went up by a single run in the fourth inning and tacked on two more in the fifth to make it a 6-3 game. Three more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning made it a 9-3 game. The Falcons – who collected just one hit from the fourth through the seventh frames – pieced together three runs in the eighth inning to make it a 9-6 game.
Lapp led off that rally with a base hit, Brown drilled a one-out single, and Brubaker's two-out single plated Lapp. After Drake reached on an error, Sprengle knocked in two with a base hit to right field, making it a 9-6 game.
“Usually in a competition like this, six runs is enough to win the game,” DeRiggs said. “This is an exceptionally hitting team however.”
The Falcons went down harmlessly in the ninth inning though, leaving Messiah one win away from elimination in the regional tournament. The Falcons play the Salisbury Sea Gulls at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. If Messiah wins that game, it plays again tomorrow night.
“We've responded for the last month when we've had our backs against the wall,” DeRiggs said. “We've used a lot of energy and we just hope that there is some left. It's been a long season and the young men have responded so many times. We just have to do it again tomorrow morning, and it's now a one-and-out. It's just a matter of whether we can execute as well as we have been executing. We need good hitting and effective pitching, and we will have our work cut out for us, especially since we are in an extremely quality tournament.”
