Box Score Game 1 |
Box Score Game 2
Reading, PA - The Falcons'
Jon Lapp provided a much-needed, dominant pitching performance to lead Messiah to a 10-2 win over Albright College on Tuesday. Lapp completed six innings, helping his team to a split with Albright College in a conference double-header.
Messiah took a quick, 1-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out error by second baseman Peiffer.
Derek Drake reached base on the play, with Sprengle scoring from second base.
The lead was short-lived for Lapp, as Peiffer (walk), Hecker (single), and Boll (RBI double) all reached with one out in the bottom of the first. The junior pitcher did settle down to get out the frame without additional damage, however, striking out Zachary Kiebler with the bases loaded.
The Falcons and
Jacob Sprengle retook the lead in the third inning, with the Messiah first baseman leading off with a double and advancing to third base on an error by the centerfielder. After an infield popup by
Casey Ebersole,
Derek Drake singled up the middle to score Sprengle.
Paul Mellinger followed with a single to left field, with
Ben Sollenberger grounding out to third base to move Drake and Mellinger into scoring position. Catcher
David Sletta then delivered the inning's big blow, a two-run single to give Messiah a 4-1 lead.
The rally was a welcome sight by Lapp and the Messiah pitchers, as it was (to that point) just the second multi-run inning for the Falcons in the past five games.
The Falcons added to their lead in the fifth inning on a double by Sollenberger, with Drake crossing the plate unearned after a pair of Albright errors came the inning alive for Messiah. Sletta followed with another RBI hit, this time a single to scored Sollenberger.
Leading 6-1, Lapp continued to mow down the Lions' batters. He retired the side in order in the second, fourth, and fifth innings, and sat down 15 of 17 total batters from the second through sixth innings. He allowed just three hits and three walks against four strikeouts, and was replaced by Marshall to start the seventh inning.
Messiah scored twice more in each the sixth and seventh innings, with all four runs unearned. The Falcons finished with 11 hits, with Sprengle (three) and Sletta (two) collecting multi-hit performances. On the day, the duo combined to go 6- 10 with a double, walk, and four RBI.
Lapp moves to 3-2 with the win and lowered his ERA to 3.86.
Game One
Sophomore Evan High hit a solo homerun in the fifth inning to bring Albright College to a 1-1 tie with the Falcons, with the Lions adding another run in the sixth to edge Messiah 2-1 in the first game of a double-header. The Falcons' Steven Riding pitched 5.1 innings and allowed just three hits. He struck out five batters against four walks.
High's game-tying blast came with one out in the fifth, and was the only extra-base hit Ridings yielded on the afternoon. He retired the next two batters to end the frame, and retired Albright's Gabe Santone to start the sixth. But then Albright put together a rally against the freshman righthander, as Nate Peiffer walked and went to third on a single by Collin Hecker.
Head coach
Pat Lightle then pulled Ridings for lefty
Adam Marshall, who induced a groundout from Dylan Boll. Peiffer came home on the out, however, as Albright went up 2-1.
Messiah's
Jon Lapp led off the Falcons' seventh inning with a single-- his second of the game-- and was moved into scoring position with one out. But
Jeremiah Eaton (strike out) and
Isaiah Shipman (groundout) were unable to bring him around, as the Falcons fell to 3-2 in one-run games this season.
Jacob Sprengle collected Messiah's lone RBI in the game on a double in the third inning that scored
Zach Brubaker. The Falcons collected six hits off Lions' starter Kevin O'Neill, but put two runners on base in the same inning just once. After High's homerun tied the game in the fifth, the Falcons pushed just one runner as far as second base (Lapp in the seventh).
O'Neill completed all seven innings for Albright, walking just two batters and striking out three. He moved to 1-2 on the season, while Ridings fell to 0-3.
The split for the Messiah moves them to 6-14 on the season, including 3-5 in the Commonwealth Conference. They will travel to York College for a single game tomorrow, Apr. 3, before playing conference foe Lebanon Valley College three times this weekend.
