Game 1 Box Score I
Game 2 Box Score
Grantham, PA - The Messiah College Falcons saw their 11-game win streak come to an end Wednesday as they dropped the non-conference doubleheader to Gettysburg College. Despite late runs in both games from the Falcons, the Bullets held on to defeat Messiah on their home field, 9-5 and 7-4.
In game one, the Falcons (12-6) found themselves trailing by a single run after the opening half-inning of play, but responded to even the score in the bottom of the inning.
Courtney Allen's lead-off double started things for the Falcons in the first.
Sarah Dietrich layed down a sacrifice bunt for the first out, advancing Allen to third. In the next at-bat,
Brooke Pompeo slapped the ball directly back to Gettysburg's pitcher, who threw home in an attempt to get Allen out at the plate. Fortunately for the Falcons, Allen slid under the tag to score the equalizer.
Gettysburg's (9-9) starting pitcher Taylor Snyder and steadfast defense contained the Falcons' offense, allowing only two hits and three base runners through four innings of play. The Bullets' offense made it even more difficult for the Falcons, scoring single runs in three of the next four innings and tacking on two more runs in the sixth to take the 6-1 lead.
The Falcons began chipping away at their deficit In the bottom of the sixth. Singles from
Sarah Dietrich, Pompeo, and
Becky Notte helped to plate three runs and force Gettysburg to make a pitching change, but the Bullets' bats wouldn't be quieted.
Gettysburg continued to plug away in the top of the seventh. The first four batters reached base, while two errors by the Falcons helped the Bullets' cause; allowing three more runs to score.
With a five run deficit and the top of their line-up poised to hit, the Falcons attempted a comeback. Allen drew the lead-off walk to become Messiah's first baserunner, but the next two batters failed to hit the ball out of the infield. With two outs and Allen on third, Notte singled to score Allen.
Stephanie Schell followed with a screaming double to center field to move Notte onto third. With runners in scoring position, Souders drew her second walk of the game to load the bases. Unfortunately,
Madelyn Coffey came up short by grounding out to the pitcher to end the game.
"Gettysburg played well today," head coach
Amy Weaver said. "They hit the ball well and we made some critical errors that cost us a few runs. I'm glad that we battled to score late runs, but we need to be more consistent with our pitch selections."
Although both teams hit the ball well, Gettysburg had 12 hits to Messiah's 10, the Falcons committed four errors that contributed to the lop-sided final score. With the loss,
Sarah Dietrich moved to 1-4 on the season. The Falcons' offense was led by Notte who was 3-for-4 with three RBI's.
In game two of the double header, the Bullets struck first once again, scoring two runs in the opening inning. Despite stringing together four hits, the Falcons were held scoreless through the first four innings of play.
In the fifth inning, eight runs in total were scored - four from each side. Messiah scored their four in the bottom of the inning after finding themselves down 7-0. The Falcons got seven straight runners on-base and stranded two to end the inning. Blantz, Dietrich (two RBI's), and Souders (two RBI's) each doubled in the inning.
Neither team managed to score in the final two innings, resulting in a 7-4 final score in favor of the Bullets.
Schell and Souders both went 2-for-4 in the game, while Dietrich was 1-for-4 with two RBI's. With the loss,
Mallory Rutledge moved to 5-2.
The Falcons return to Commonwealth Conference action tomorrow when they travel to Lycoming College. The doubleheader is set to begin at 3:00 p.m.
