Box Score Game 1 |
Box Score Game 2
Williamsport, PA - Messiah College softball split an afternoon double-header with Lycoming College on Thursday, moving to 6-2 in the Commonwealth Conference.
The Falcons won Game One 10-6 before dropping the second match-up 2-0.
"We came out fired up and hit really well," head coach
Amy Weaver said. "We scored lots of runs in the first game, but weren't so fortunate in the second game. We were hitting the ball hard, but right at them [Lycoming]. We had a couple chances to score, but their center fielder made some great plays to throw us out at the plate."
In game one, the Falcons (13-7, 6-2) put up runs in five of seven innings with multiple runs coming in the first, second, and fourth.
All nine batters made their way to the plate in the first inning to score four runs on five hits and two errors.
Brooke Pompeo's one-out double was followed up by a single from
Sarah Dietrich, but it was
Becky Notte's triple that pushed both runs across the plate. In the next at-bat
Stephanie Schell singled to center field, allowing Notte to score.
Katie Souders rounded out the scoring for the Falcons by driving the ball back out to center field for an RBI double.
The Warriors challenged Messiah's starting pitcher
Claressa Mees in the early goings by stringing together three hits in the bottom of the first, but the Falcons' defense muffed out any scoring threats. In fact, Lycoming (8-6, 1-3) stranded five baserunners in the first two innings of play.
The Falcons added three much-needed runs in the second and third to take a 7-0 lead, but the Warriors never backed down. Lycomig scored three runs of their own in the bottom of the third, while both teams tacked on two more runs in the fourth. The Warriors added a single run in the fifth, bringing their deficit to to only three runs before the Falcons brought Dietrich in to relieve Mees.
Schell doubled to lead-off the sixth and eventually scored on a pinch-hit single by
Natalie Fritz to end Messiah's scoring.
Dietrich (2-4) shutdown the Warriors in the sixth and seventh, allowing only one hit, to secure the win for the Falcons.
"Sarah [Dietrich] did a great job for us," Weaver said. "She came into game one and got the job done. She saved the game for us and made a huge impact."
Dietrich also made a big impact on offense by going 2-for-4, scoring two runs, and stealing two bases. Notte was 2-for-5 with a double and triple and four RBI's. Schell was 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI.
Game two was quite a different story. The Warrior's pitcher, Caroline Lapano (3-4), held the Falcons scoreless and limited them to only five hits.
Messiah did what they could to create scoring opportunities by getting runners on base in four of seven innings, but Lycoming's defense prevented the Falcons from scoring.
In the top of the second, Schell singled to give the Falcons their second baserunner of the game. After a sacrifice bunt by Souders advanced Schell to second, a walk from
Nicole Blantz made things look promising. In the next at-bat,
Amanda Fife hit the ball directly to the shortstop who made the force play at third to get the lead runner. Moments later, a wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position, but
Daniella Pusateri struck out to end the inning.
After a three-up, three-down top half of the third, the Warriors broke the 0-0 tie. Back-to-back singles and a defensive error by the Falcons set the stage for Amy Cline who doubled to plate the only two runs of the game.
The Falcons' best chances to equalize and perhaps take the lead came in the sixth when Allen singled to become only the fifth base runner for Messiah. A sacrifice bunt by Dietrich advanced Allen to second and a single to center field by Pompeo nearly plated Allen, but a stealth throw from the Warriors' Amy Cline beat her to the plate, thwarting Messiah's scoring opportunity.
The Warriors held off the Falcons' final scoring attempt in the top of the seventh, handing Messiah their second conference loss of the season.
With the 2-0 loss,
Mallory Rutledge moved to 5-3 on the year giving up only two runs on five hits in six innings of play.
The Falcons will be back in action on Monday when they to York College. The non-conference double-header will begin at 3:00 p.m.
