Video Highlights from Day One

Salem, VA - Messiah College scored four runs in two different innings and they survived a six-run fifth inning from Rowan University in a 9-6 win in their first game of the NCAA Softball Championships. The Falcons and Profs combined for 15 runs, 17 hits, and six errors in the back-and-forth battle, with the teams combining for 10 runs in the fourth inning alone.
 
The Falcons will next play tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 p.m. against MIT.
 
Messiah put together their first four-run inning in the second inning. An error by Rowan second baseman Carly Anderson helped along the rally for Messiah when her shuffle to second base could not be grabbed. That play left Amanda Jones on second and Amber Bingaman on first with one out, and Madelyn Yannetti took advantage with a hard RBI single to left field.
 
Shannon Denny followed with a bunt to move the runners along, and Carrie Fix then chopped a ground ball up the middle that went for and infield hit and another run. Now up 2-0, Brooke Pompeo brought home Yannetti with a bloop single to right. Courtney Allen followed with the fourth run-scoring hit of the frame, this one a grounder up the middle that went off the sliding reach of shortstop Shilah Snead.
 
With all the momentum on their side Messiah went into the fourth inning leading by that 4-0 score. But it would all disappear in the frame as Rowan scored six runs to take a stunning lead of their own.
 
It all started when the first three Rowan batters of the fourth each collected singles to load the bases with no one out. Damariz Mercado was next up and she attacked the first pitch for a two-run double down the left field line. Now with runners on second and third, a short fly out to right went for the first out, but Amanda Parker then lined to center for a sac fly and RBI to make it 4-3.
 
Despite the Profs' rally, Messiah was still leading and they came close to getting out of it. But Erin Cressman then misplayed a hard throw from second baseman Emily Quatrale on a routine grounder, and the error allowed Mercado to scamper home from third base. With the game now tied 4-4, it only got worse for the Falcons. Snead looped a double to left to chase home Gianna Genello and put the Profs on top 5-4.
 
Madelyn Yannetti then took over for Allen in the circle, but she couldn't stop the bleeding just yet. Snead, with 33 stolen bases to her credit this year, went to third on a pitch that got away from Notte. On the advance, Notte's throw down to third went through Snead's slide and dribbled into left field allowing Snead to race home for the sixth run of the inning.

The nightmare inning finally ended with a strikeout of Mia Baldassari.
 
Undeterred from losing their lead, Messiah immediately responded with another four runs. With one out Denny walked and Fix followed with a long double down the left field line that just hit the chalk. Pompeo's bunt single loaded the bases, and Allen worked a five pitch walk to bring home a run. Becky Notte followed with a huge two-run single up the middle that put the Falcons back on top, 7-6. Amanda Jones then reached on fielder's choice to third that brought home Allen for an 8-6 lead.
 
Messiah came close to adding more after Erin Cressman walked to load the bases, but Amber Bingaman lined into a hard-luck 1-3 double play that ended it.
 
Notte's leadoff double in the sixth helped Messiah both tack on a run and complete the scoring. Haylee Anders pinch ran for Notte, and two batters later she came home on a  fielder's choice ground out by Cressman.
 
Yannetti allowed just one hit over the final two frames, and she sat down the Profs 1-2-3 in the seventh to seal the win. She pitched 3.1 brilliant innings in relief, and she moved to 10-1 with the decision.
 
The Falcons' top four hitters—Fix, Pompeo, Allen, and Notte— each collected two hits, with Allen and Notte each finishing with two RBI. Notte's two base hits gave her 231 hits in her career, tied for the program-record held by current assistant coach Jen Thuma.

The combined offense in what was the last of four games on the first day of the Softball Championships was a contrast to the first three; six teams combined for just nine runs in the first three games, and Messiah and Rowan beat that total in the fourth inning, let alone the rest of the innings. Even still, the game wasn't without some sloppy play. The teams combined for six errors, with Messiah tying a season-high with four miscues. Rowan starter Beth Ann Hyland was the victim of her team's errant play as all four runs in her 1.2 innings were unearned. Three of the runs charged against Messiah's Allen were unearned.

Nevertheless, both Messiah and Rowan made some terrific defensive plays as well. One standout play for Messiah was Amanda Jones' unassisted double play in the third inning by way of a great scoop behind second for the force, and then a strong relay to Cressman to end the inning. But the unchallenged play of the game, and maybe the entire postseason thus far, was a 1-3 double play turned by Yannetti to end the sixth. With two on and just one out, she grabbed a liner out of the air off the bat of Baldassari and doubled up Snead at first. Her throw ended what proved to be the final threat by Rowan.

As mentioned, Messiah will now play MIT tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. The Engineers defeated Illinois Wesleyan 2-0 by way of single runs in both the sixth and seventh innings.