Reading, PA - Alvernia collected two unearned runs to walk-off Messiah 4-3 in Game One, and they then took a 7-3 win in Game Two to sweep the Falcons in a double-header. The losses dropped Messiah to 3-3 in the MAC Commonwealth.

Game One - Alvernia 4, Messiah 3
The Messiah baseball team took a 3-2 lead in the top of the fifth against the Alvernia Crusaders on a two-run homer by Joseph Saufley to right center field. Messiah held that lead until the final play of the game, an error that allowed two runs to come home and give Alvernia the 4-3 victory.

The Crusaders jumped on the board early with a solo home run in the bottom of the first by Chris Burns, his eighth homer of the season.
 
In the top of the third the Falcons countered with a single run of their own. Josh Hayner led off the inning with a single down the left field line and later in the inning Saufley went the other way with a single to left to put runners on the corners. Colin Fry then reached on an error by the pitcher allowing Hayner to score and tie the game at 1-1.
 
In the bottom of the fourth the Crusaders took a 2-1 lead with an RBI single to right field.
 
The score remained 2-1 until the top of the fifth when Ben Sollenberger singled with one away. Saufley then stepped to the plate and hammered a 2-1 pitch over the right-centerfield wall to give Messiah their first lead of the game at 3-2.
 
John Griffitts then came up with the big shutdown inning in the bottom of the frame inducing two groundouts before striking out the final batter of the inning for the one-two-three frame.
 
After a scoreless sixth inning where each team left a runner on base, the stage was set for an exciting final frame. In the top half of the inning the Falcons collected a one-out single off the bat of Sollenberger and a two-out walk by Colin Fry but a fielder's choice ended the frame without the Falcons adding to their lead. In the bottom of the frame, the Falcons trotted Griffitts back out. Griffitts looking for his second complete game in as many starts got into a bit of trouble as the seventh unfolded. A leadoff single up the middle and a walk were sandwiched around a strike out looking. After the walk, Griffitts was removed for Drew Betz with one out and two runners on. Betz went right after the Crusaders' hitters getting ahead of his first batter 0-2 before a single dropped in front of Andrew Eyster in centerfield. With the bases now loaded, Betz got a ground ball to Colin Fry at third. Fry fielded cleanly but his throw to first-base that would have ended the game was wide of the bag allowing the tying and game winning runs to score and give the Crusaders a 4-3 victory.

John Griffitts pitched a solid 6.1 innings before exiting with two on and one out in the seventh. Griffitts struck out seven batters while allowing just four hits and a walk, he was charged with three runs (two earned) in the no decision. Drew Betz came on in relief and allowed a single to load the bases before getting what looked to be a game-ending double-play ball. Betz suffered the loss in the contest.

At the plate, Saufley (2-3 at the plate) highlighted the effort with the two RBIs on the home run in the fifth. Ben Sollenberger also collected two hits in the game, going 2-4 from the dish and scored a run.

Game Two - Alvernia 7, Messiah 3
Ben Sollenberger led off Game Two with a solo blast to give Messiah an early 1-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Falcons, the Crusaders quickly countered with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first to score five runs to take control of Game Two en route to a 7-3 victory and a three game series sweep.
 
As mentioned, Sollenberger led off for the Falcons with a solo home run. The big fly was his second lead off home run in the last week. He also led off last Tuesday's contest against McDaniel with a home run. After the homer the Falcons were looking for more, putting the next two runners on thanks to a pair of walks. With runners on first and second and no outs, the next three Falcons were fanned by Alvernia's starter John Catchmark. In his 6.1 innings of work, Catchmark tied a career-high striking out 11 Falcons – he now has 10-plus strikeouts in three of his six career starts.
 
In the bottom of the first, Messiah starter Zach Luman got the first two outs with relative easy. After a lead off single Luman got a fly out and a strike out to get the first two outs of the frame. With two away and a runner on first, the next five batters reached base resulting in five runs coming around to score. After the first the Crusaders led 5-1.
 
In the second the Falcons came right back with a pair of runs to cut the Crusaders' lead in half. Joseph Saufley connected for a two-out two-RBI single to left field that drove home Josh Hayner and Adam Janney.
 
After the Falcons closed the gap to 5-3 in the top of the frame, the Crusaders answered with a single run in the bottom of the second on an RBI single by Matt Briner.
 
The Messiah bats went quiet for the majority of the middle innings. Jon Mullin (single in the fourth), Joseph Saufley (walk in the fifth), and Adam Janney (double in the sixth) accounted for the only Messiah base runners over the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth.
 
The Crusaders picked up an insurance run in the fifth on three straight singles. With Alvernia leading 7-3, the Falcons attempted to rally in the top of the seventh. Saufley singled to right field and Josh Good doubled down the left field line, but a strike out ended the game and gave the Crusaders the three-game series sweep.
 
On the day, Joseph Saufley led the Falcons at the plate going 4-5 with a home run, three walks, four RBI, and a run scored. Ben Sollenberger (3-8 RBI, run) also homered on the day and Adam Janney picked up a pair of doubles in Game Two while going 3-6 at the dish with a run scored.
 
Messiah will next take the field on Friday, Apr. 1 at 3:00 p.m. when they host the Arcadia Knights.