Chester, PA - Messiah College scored five runs across the first three innings and
Brandon Shirk provided a brilliant start on the mound in a 7-2 win over Widener on Friday afternoon.
Josh Good and
Joseph Saufley each homered in the victory.
Messiah got on the board with a first inning run thanks to a one-out triple by
Adam Janney. Saufley brought him home one batter later with a groundout. In the next inning
Andrew Eyster knocked a two-out, two-run single through the right side to give Messiah a 3-0 advantage.
In the third
Colin Fry hit a two-out single to bring up
Josh Good, and he promptly homered to rightfield on a 2-1 pitch to increase the lead. Saufley homered in similar fashion in the fifth inning, with a ball down the rightfield line with two outs.
In the seventh inning Saufley was at it again, this time knocking a 2-2 pitch into the gap in right field to chase home Janney, who had just singled and stole second.
Six of the Falcons' first seven runs came with two outs.
On the mound
Brandon Shirk was terrific in a spot-start. He went seven innings and allowed just four hits against five strikeouts. In the second inning Shirk escaped his most precarious frame when he picked up a swinging strikeout with the bases loaded to end the Widener threat. His only other real trouble came in the fifth inning when a hit-by-pitch put two runners on with two outs. But he induced a lineout to right center to get out of it, with Eyster making the catch on the run.
Widener did their best to get back into the game in the eighth, when
Quinton Kuntz came on in relief of Shirk. A single and two walks loaded the bases with no one out, but
Matt Wright came in and got two quick groundballs to trade single runs. A flyout to center allowed the Falcons to escape without further damage.
Shirk's decision, which was also his longest outing of the season, was his first win as he moved to 1-2 and saw his ERA fall from 8.00 to 6.35.
At the plate Saufley, Good, and Eyster led the Falcons by combining to go 6-11 with seven RBI. The home runs for Saufley and Good were their eighth and first of the season, respectively.
The win pushed Messiah to 12-7 in the MAC Commonwealth standings, with Widener falling to 13-6. The Falcons and Pride will turn around and play two tomorrow at Messiah, with the first pitch coming at 12:00 noon. If Messiah is able to win both games, they will enter next week's conference tournament as the No. 2 seed; Widener will be the No. 2 seed (and Messiah No. 3) if they are able to split on Saturday.
