XML Box Score 1 |
XML Box Score 2 Grantham, PA - If they could be like this.
Messiah College swept a double-header from Elizabetown College on Saturday, winning twice in the beautiful sunshine and warm temperatures.
Joseph Saufley provided extra excitement with a walk-off, three-run homerun to give the hosts a 7-4 win in Game One, and the Falcons' picked up runs in the middle innings of Game Two to win 5-3.
The Falcons improved to 12-11 overall and 10-5 in the Commonwealth.
Game OneOne day after putting 17 runs on the board against the Falcons, Elizabethtown seemed poised to keep scoring when they loaded the bases with two outs in the first inning. But
Jon Lapp picked up a big strikeout to collect the third out, ending the frame while simultaneously giving momentum to the Falcons.
Messiah responded well to Lapp's early performance and went up 4-0 between the second and third innings.
David Sletta picked up an RBI single with two outs in the second for a 1-0 lead, and
Derek Drake doubled the advantage in the third with a double to right center. Two batters later
Jacob Sprengle hit a tremendous homerun to right field to put Messiah up 4-0. Sprengle's shot went over the Falcons' new scoreboard in right field and into the tennis courts beyond the fence.
In the fourth inning Elizabethtown put runners on first and third with no one out, but Lapp induced a double-play ball to limit the damage. He kept the Falcons up 4-1 until the sixth inning, when things unraveled quickly. With the bases loaded and two outs, Lapp forced in a run with a hit-by-pitch to make it 4-3. Then, still with the bases loaded, Lapp threw wide of first on a pick-off attempt and two more runs scored to tie the game.
The sixth inning took the shine off Lapp's outing, though he went on to finish seven innings and allowed just six hits; just one of his four runs allowed were earned.
The Falcons and Blue Jays stayed tied at 7-7 in the Falcons' half of the seventh, when Sletta started the game winning rally with a single up the middle. He moved to second on a bunt by
Andrew Eyster but was quickly sent back to first and Eyster was called out for batter's interference. Now on first with one out, Sletta moved into scoring position on a walk by
Zach Brubaker that also brought
Joseph Saufley to the plate.
Saufley took a strike before drilling a long walk-off homerun to centerfield. The homerun was the first of his career and his seventh, eighth, and ninth RBI on the season.
Sletta was the lone Falcon to collect two hits while Brubaker reached base three times (hit, two walks).
Game TwoLike he did in Game One,
David Sletta collected an RBI in the second inning to give Messiah a 1-0 lead. This time the run was impressively manufactured by the Falcons as Joshua Good singled, stole second, and moved to third on a groundout by
Casey Ebersole; Sletta followed with a sac fly to right to score Good.
Elizabethtown responded immediately in the third inning as Frank Cansuo doubled to lead off the frame. Alex Holbert then bunted towards first and reached on an error by
Jacob Sprengle that scored Canuso all the way from first. Two batters later Zack Tomasko singled Holbert home to put the Blue Jays up 2-1.
Undeterred, Messiah tied the game with just three at-bats.
Zach Brubaker doubled down the rightfield line and, after moving to third on a sac bunt by Saufley, scored on
Derek Drake's single up the middle.
The game stayed tied at 2-2 until the fourth when Saufley came through with a big two-out, two-run infield single that plated both
Jon Heisey and
David Sletta.
With the score 4-3 in the sixth Sletta provided a big insurance run with a single of his own, scoring Ebersole from second.
Steven Ridings retired the side in order in the seventh to seal his third win of the year.
Ben Sollenberger finished 2-3 for Messiah and both Saufley and Sletta collected two RBI. Ridings' allowed just six hits over seven innings, recovering impressively from a poor showing yesterday against the Blue Jays (two innings pitched, five earned runs) to push Messiah to the win.
Â
