Chester, PA – The Messiah Falcons swept rival Widener University today (and three times this weekend) to vault from Commonwealth hopefuls to the No. 2 seed. The Falcons took Game Two 15-7 by way of a nine-run fifth inning.

Game One
The Falcons took an important 4-2 victory over the Widener Pride in Game One of their Saturday double-header. Brandon Shirk earned the victory while pitching four innings and allowing five hits and two runs.
 
The Falcons fell into an early 1-0 hole, allowing a run in the second before the Falcons scored three runs in the fourth to take a lead. Derek Drake added an insurance run in the fifth, when he led off the inning with a solo homer over the 42-foot high left field fence.
 
As mentioned, the Pride got on the board first in the bottom of the second. They used a pair of singles to drive home Justin Healey and took a 1-0 lead.
 
After a scoreless third the Falcons took their first lead of the game in the fourth. Derek Drake and Kyle Schoen led off the inning with back-to-back singles before Jon Mullin walked to load the bases. Ben Sollenbeger singled before Zach Brubaker worked a 12-pitch at bat and collected an infield single to score another run. Messiah scored their final run of the inning on a John Griffitts walk that brought home Jon Mullin.
 
The Pride got one of those three runs right back in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single with two-outs.
 
With the Falcons leading 3-2, Derek Drake led off the top of the fifth with a line drive home run over the "Blue Monster" in left field. The homer was Drake's fourth of the season.
 
The Pride threatened in the final frame with two runners in scoring position with only one out. John Griffitts was brought in to end the inning. Griffitts struck out the first batter he faced before hitting a batter to load the bases. With the tying and winning runs on base, Griffitts collected his second strikeout of the inning as he secured the win for Messiah.
 
Billy Bendig pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief while scattering five hits.

Game Two
In Game Two, the Pride scored early to build a 7-3 lead.
 
After the Falcons went down quietly in the top of the first, the Pride struck in the bottom half of the frame with an RBI single. The Falcons countered scoring two in the top half of the second. Derek Drake lead off the inning with a single before Jon Heisey tripled to right field to get the Falcons on the board. Jon Mullin then brought Heisey home with a sacrifice fly to right and gave the Falcons a 2-1 lead.
 
In the bottom of the second the Pride scored three runs on a two-run single by Michael Rytelewski to right and an RBI double by Ryan McDonough to right center.
 
With the Pride leading 4-2, Derek Drake delivered an RBI single in the top of the third to score Griffitts.
 
The Pride added three more runs in the bottom of the third on two RBI singles and a walk with the bases loaded to take a 7-3 lead.
 
Both teams left opportunities on the base paths in the fourth as both the Pride and Falcons left two runners in scoring position.
 
In the fifth Adam Janney walked to lead off the inning before the hit parade started. Back-to-back singles loaded the bases before Derek Drake singled home the first run of the inning. Jon Heisey then unloaded for his second grand slam of the week and gave the Falcons their first lead of the game, but the rally didn't end there, the Falcons tacked on four more runs in the frame to take a 12-7.
 
Steve Nicolais started the rally back up with a single before Ben Sollenberger doubled to deep right to put runners on second and third. Zach Brubaker brought Nicolais home with a single. After Brubaker stole second to put two runners in scoring position, Janney, in his second plate appearance of the inning, singled home Sollenberger.
 
Derek Drake doubled down the left field line to bring home the final two runs of the inning and complete a nine run frame, Messiah's biggest of the season.
 
After a shutdown inning on the mound by Quinton Kuntz, the Falcons came right back and tallied three more runs in the top of the sixth to push their lead to 15-7. Adam Janney highlighted the inning with a two-out single that brought home Jon Mullin and Steve Nicholias.
 
Kuntz struck out a total of five batters in his final two scoreless innings to complete the game. He struck out the side in the fifth, with a two-out single breaking up a perfect inning.
 
The Falcons completed the three-game series sweep with the 15-7 victory over the Pride and insured themselves a spot in the Commonwealth Playoffs. With the win and the results from other games around the conference the Falcons claim the second seed in the Commonwealth tournament and will face the three-seeded Stevenson Mustangs on Thursday in York, Pa.
 
Derek Drake was the most consistent hitter in the series for the Falcons going 10-13 with a double and a home run. He also scored five runs and drove in six more.
 
The Falcons will take on the Stevenson Mustangs at Santander Stadium at 7 p.m. In the season series, the Falcons took two of three games over the Mustangs including a double-header sweep at home last weekend.