Grantham, PA – Messiah College baseball is primed and ready to build on a strong finish to last season and impress in 2017. In 2016, the Falcons won eight of their last 10 regular-season contests to finish 24-20 and 13-8 in conference, earning a 3-seed in the MAC Commonwealth tournament. After dropping their first game to 2-seed Widener, Messiah upset top-seeded Alvernia and then defeated 4-seed Stevenson to reach the championship, before falling to Widener again to finish as the runner-up. They will begin their 2017 season on the road at Eastern Mennonite University on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
See below for a snapshot preview of the Falcons this season.
Roster and Coaches
The Falcons return two All-MAC Commonwealth players in relief pitcher
Drew Betz (First Team) and Starting Pitcher
John Griffitts (Honorable Mention). Betz led the team with an ERA of 1.60, 21 appearances, and five saves, while Griffitts had a 3.17 ERA and went 4-2 as a starter. Other notable returners include DH
Adam Janney (.339 BA, 57 hits, 14 doubles, seven stolen bases), catcher
Jon Mullin (.280 BA, 21 hits, seven doubles, .964 fielding percentage), and third baseman
Colin Fry (.276 BA, 23 hits, three home runs, 19 RBI, .490 slugging percentage).
In total, Messiah's roster includes five seniors, nine juniors, 17 sophomores (two by transfer), and 11 freshmen. Head coach
Pat Lightle is in his fifth season at the helm of Messiah baseball, accumulating an overall record of 72–82 and 48-36 in the conference, including three-straight MAC Commonwealth tournament appearances. He is joined on staff by assistant coaches
Ben Kirk '09,
Jake Sprengle '12, and graduate assistant
Joseph Saufley '16.
Messiah lost some big bats from last year, as three position players that graduated (including the aforementioned Saufley) combined for 36% of the team's total hits, 30% of doubles, 50% of triples, 56% of home runs, 39% of RBIs, and 36% of runs scored. The Falcons also lost MAC Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year and Seattle Mariners' draft pick
Steven Ridings, who in 12 starts compiled a 7-4 record with an ERA of 1.72, four complete games, 99 strikeouts, and a batting average against of .207.
Schedule
As mentioned, the Falcons open their season on Feb. 21 at Eastern Mennonite University for a single game at 3:00 p.m. After three more away games, the team travels to Port St. Lucie, FL for spring break, where they will play six games including three conference match-ups with Albright College. The home opener is slated for March 21 against Mount Aloysius College at 3:30 p.m.
Messiah is set to face their important conference games early, as they play three-game series with the two teams picked in a tie atop the MAC Commonwealth, Alvernia University and Widener University, in back-to-back weekends at the end of March. They wrap up conference play with three games against Commonwealth preseason No. 4 Stevenson University on April 28-29, before ending the regular season with a nonconference contest at Frostburg State University on May 2. The MAC Commonwealth Tournament is set to take place May 4-6.
7 Numbers to Know for the 2017 Season
.263 – opponent batting average against Messiah last season, lowest in the MAC Commonwealth. Returning starter
John Griffitts was second in the conference at .222, 15 points above fellow Falcon
Steven Ridings (.207), who as mentioned was drafted by the Mariners.
.317 – career batting average of
Adam Janney. The junior led the team and MAC Commonwealth with 57 hits last season, and needs just nine to reach the century mark for his career.
8 – number of strikeouts that starting pitcher
John Griffitts needs to reach 100 in his career. Last season, the senior posted a career-best 58 strikeouts, good enough for second on the team and tied for third in the conference. Of those 58 K's, 23 were looking, which was second in the conference.
16 – appearances made last season by relief pitcher
Drew Betz without surrendering a run. Just a freshman in the 2016 season, Betz compiled a 1.60 ERA in his 21 total appearances on the mound.
27 – margin between Messiah's 62 stolen bases last season and their opponents' 35. The Falcons were not only aggressive and speedy on the basepaths, but also packed some pop at the plate, hitting 25 home runs compared to giving up just 11 on the year.
88 – number of doubles recorded by the Falcons in 2016, setting a new program record. Returning players with significant contributions to that record include
Adam Janney, who led the team with 14,
Colin Fry (10), and
Jon Mullin (7).
418 – combined career games played for Messiah by the three assistant coaches –
Ben Kirk,
Jake Sprengle, and
Joseph Saufley. The trio brings a wealth of experience to the team, as that equates to an average of 35 games per each individual season.
