Box Score

Grantham, PA – Messiah College dropped to 2-4 in the Commonwealth Conference on Monday, falling to Arcadia University by the score of 7-1. The loss is the Falcons' fifth defeat in six games, and second to the Knights in the past three contests.
 
Evan Young started for the Falcons and pitched well, allowing just three hits and three runs (one earned) in 5.1 innings. Tyler Moody finished the final 3.2 innings for Messiah, allowing four earned runs on six hits.
 
Young's first big challenge came in the second inning, as a hit-by-pitch of Michael Nessel was followed with a walk to Jay Zehring. With Young demonstrating a bit of wildness, Brandon Martin gave the Falcons an out with a sac bunt to move Nessel and Zehring into scoring position. Young then induced a groundout to short Nick Petroski, with Nessel holding at third.
 
Now with two outs, George Pagan also reached by way of a hit-by-pitch to set up a bases loaded situation for leadoff hitter David Jacobs. A .405 batter thus far in 2013, Jacobs grounded out to second base to end the inning.
 
The Falcons started the scoring in the fifth inning, with David Sletta singling to shortstop with two outs to score Jeremiah Eaton from third base. Eaton had just reached base with a one-out double to right field, and moved to third on a groundout by Paul Mellinger.
 
Messiah's 1-0 lead was short-lived, however, as number three-hitter Jerry Smith reached to lead off the Knights' sixth inning on an error by first baseman Jacob Sprengle. Cleanup hitter Elliott Freeman followed with his third homerun of the season, a deep drive to right centerfield that put Arcadia on top 2-1.
 
Things then began to unravel for Messiah, as Nessell (error on shortstop Casey Ebersole) and Zehring (hit by pitch) both reached. Like he did back in the second inning, Martin followed with a sac bunt to move the pair into scoring position. Petroski then reached first base with Young's fourth hit-by-pitch of the game.
 
Tyler Moody relieved Young and got Pagan to pop up to Ebersole, but then clipped Jacobs to force in a run. Moody managed to escape further damage, though, as Justin Simpson grounded out. Still, Arcadia now led 3-1.
 
The Falcons almost closed the gap in their next at-bat, as Derek Drake collected a two-out double to push Sprengle (one-out single) to third base. With the tying runs in scoring position, Ben Sollenberger flied out to right field to end the threat.
 
Messiah put two runners on base again in the seventh inning, but Zach Brubaker flied out to shallow left centerfield as Arcadia kept their 3-1 lead.
 
The Knights opened the game up in the ninth inning, with a two-out rally by Simpson (single), Smith (double to left), and Freeman (double to right) leading to two more runs. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there, as four more batters would reach base with a pair of RBI singles giving Arcadia two more runs for a 7-1 lead. All four of the Knights' runs in the ninth inning came with two outs.
 
In total, the Knights only scored in two innings—the sixth (3) and the ninth (4).
 
Tyler Moody (0-2) took the loss for the Falcons as they fall to 5-13 overall.
 
Messiah will next play tomorrow, Apr. 2, when they travel to Albright College for a double-header that has twice been postponed this season due to snow. The games will start at 1:00 p.m.

Related Videos

Now Playing:

• Play Video