Box Score
by Zach Specht, GoMessiah.com reporter
Grantham, PA - A three-run lead after their first at-bat did not hold up for Messiah on Wednesday, as York College homered twice in the fourth inning en route to an 8-5 victory over the Falcons. Josh Kohn earned the win for the Spartans after settling down after the first inning to complete four more scoreless frames.
Messiah started out with a 3-0 lead in the game, as
Casey Ebersole registered the Falcons first run in the bottom of the first inning. He reached on a double to deep center and quickly stole third base.
Paul Mellinger followed with a groundout to the shortstop, which scored Ebersole to give the Falcons an early 1-0 lead.
Messiah continued to have the hot bat early in the contest as the Falcons' offense added two more runs in the bottom of the first. The Falcons displayed aggressive baserunning as they executed the double-steal to move
Jacob Sprengle to third and
Derek Drake to second, respectively.
Ben Sollenberger them kept the Falcons offense rolling with a two-run single to increase Messiah's lead to 3-0 after one inning of play.
But the Falcons began to unravel in the fourth inning, as
Matthew Fenton allowed a leadoff homerun before walking two more batters with no one out.
Jon Lapp relieved Fenton and allowed a three-run blast to former-Falcon Drew Frankenfield, as Messiah quickly fell behind 4-3.
With York College holding a 4-3 lead, the Spartans continued to add to their lead in the sixth frame.
Mitch McClure relieved Lapp and allowed a lead off single, then proceeded to walk the next two batters to load the bases. Dustin Worthman drove in Colin Porter for the lone run of the sixth inning as the Spartans bumped their lead to 5-3.
With York soon leading 6-3 in the seventh inning, the Spartans were not finished adding to their lead. With runners on the corners, Andrew Hershey would reach home on a Frankenfield RBI single to put the Spartans up 7-3. Porter would add more damage as he drove in Herr with an RBI single to center field to give the Spartans a commanding advantage.
After falling behind 8-3 heading into their eighth inning at-bat, Messiah rallied for two runs before York escaped without further damage.
Peter Fisher started the contest on the mound for Falcons while giving up one hit in two innings. Lapp was charged with the loss as he gave up one run on two hits while walking a batter.
After a rocky start, John Kohn settled in to secure his second win of the season for the Spartans. Kohn completed five innings of play while allowing three runs on two hits and striking out five batters.
On a day where the Falcons jumped out to a quick start, their bats cooled off as the game progressed. Ebersole paved the way for the Falcons as he completed the contest going two-of-five while scoring two runs.
With the loss, Messiah falls to 3-8 on the season, while York improves to 6-7.
Messiah will look to break their three-game losing streak when the Falcons travel to Alvernia University on Friday, Mar. 22 for a 3:30 p.m. contest. The contest against the Crusaders marks the Falcons' first conference game of the season.
BB: Falcons Can't Overcome Spartans Lead Gallery
