Box Score Game 1 |
Box Score Game 2
Bridgewater, VA - The old adage goes that you can see something new every time you watch a baseball game. Case in point: Messiah's 7-4 loss at Bridgewater State on Saturday.
The Falcons and Eagles were knotted at 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth when Jonathan Mason hit a one-out grand slam to win the game. As he and his teammates are simultaneously celebrating and running the bases, Mason passed the runner in front of him between first and second base. The umpires came together and ruled Mason out, sending all three runners back to their bases.
Bridgewater skipper Curt Kendall protested their ruling, arguing that the runs should still have scored regardless of Mason's base-running blunder. The umpires decided to continue the game anyway, agreeing to rule on the protest afterwards.
Now with two outs and the bases still loaded, the Falcons got out of the jam as the teams eventually went into the tenth inning. Messiah scored twice in the top half of the frame, with the Eagles responding with two of their own to again tie the game at 6-6.
Again tied, and now worrying about their ability to play the second game of the double-header, the head coaches requested that the umpires rule on the ninth inning protest. At this point, the umpires found their answer: the rule book states clearly that in a situation where there are less than two outs and a batter hits a home run, but passes a baserunner, the batter is ruled out and all runners score.
By way of the ruling, the Eagles received a 7-4 win in nine innings.
Before the craziness began, Messiah looked as though they were ready to open their season with a win.
The Falcons scored three runs in the third inning after
Ben Sollenberger and
Matt Turman led off with consecutive singles. A double-steal put runners on second and third and, after a strikeout by
Casey Ebersole,
Zach Brubaker collected an RBI groundout to second base. Now with two outs and a runner on third,
Derek Drake doubled and
Paul Mellinger singled to score two more runs.
The Eagles got a run back in the fourth inning, with Christian Armstrong tagging Lapp for a solo homerun to right field.
Messiah went ahead 4-1 in the fifth inning, with Ebersole crossing the plate with on a pass ball with an unearned run. The run proved valuable for Lapp, who gave up a two-out, two-run single to Andrew Hacker in the bottom half of the frame.
Bridgewater tied the game in the eighth inning, as
Adam Marshall allowed two singles after relieving Lapp to start the frame. A sac bunt moved the runners into scoring position, where Armstrong brought home the game-tying score with a groundout.
In the ninth inning,
Tyler Moody started afresh for Messiah and promptly retired his first batter on a groundout. But he then allowed a walk, hit-by-pitch, and another walk to load the bases.
Steven Ridings relieved Moody, but allowed Mason's grand slam to end the game—albeit two innings later.
Mason's game winning hit is officially recorded as a three-run single.
Lapp was strong for Messiah, allowing seven hits and just a single walk over seven full innings. He struck out one batter, with all three runs allowed being earned. Moody took the loss for the Falcons.
Messiah managed eight hits in the first game, with Ebersole accounting for the lone two-hit performance at the plate.
Game Two
In Messiah's second game with Bridgewater, the Falcons fell behind 5-0 before failing to complete a comeback in a 6-4 loss.
Paul Broomell took the loss for Messiah, as he allowed four earned runs over two-plus innings pitched.
Broomell allowed just a single hit—a lead-off double to Bryan Sanderson to start the game—before seeing a pair of groundouts bring in a first inning run. He worked around a hit-by-pitch and walk in the second inning, escaping further damage by way of an inning-ending assist by
Derek Drake to nab an Eagles' runner at home plate.
But Broomell again worked himself into trouble in the third inning. He hit another batter before walking two more, getting relieved by
Evan Young with no outs and bases loaded. Young allowed back-to-back two-run doubles as Messiah went down 5-0. The first three runs of the inning were credited to Broomell.
Messiah earned two runs back in the fifth inning, as Lapp homered in back of Ebersole. The hit would be one two in the game for the junior third baseman.
An inning later,
Isaiah Shipman doubled down the left field line to score teammate
Jacob Sprengle and, in the seventh inning,
Dan Varno would come arcound to score on a pinch-hit single by
Jordan Seltzer.
At the end of seven innings, however, Messiah was still trailing 6-4 when the game was called for darkness.
Moody and Marshall each threw an inning of relief, combining to allow just a single hit and run as Messiah tried to work back from the early deficit.
The loss dropped Messiah to 0-2 after their first day of competition. The Falcons will look to get into the win column next week Wednesday when they travel to Johns Hopkins for a single game set to start at 3:00 p.m.
