Lancaster, PA – Messiah baseball scored five in the fifth and four in the eighth, cruising to an 11-4 win over Franklin & Marshall College on Thursday afternoon.
 
The top of the order was red-hot for the Falcons, as Dan Wiederrecht, Josh Hayner, and Colin Fry combined to go 7-12 with seven runs scored and seven RBI. Fry led the charge with three hits, a walk, three runs scored, and three RBI, including his second home run of the season.
 
Brandon Shirk (1-0) started for Messiah and pitched a fantastic game through six innings, allowing one run on five hits and striking out four to earn the win. However, he surrendered four straight hits and three runs to lead off the bottom of the seventh before Drew Betz came into the game in relief. Betz went two innings without allowing a hit and striking out two, before Chase Peiffer made his second appearance on the mound this season, retiring the Diplomats in the bottom of the ninth.
 
The Falcons and Diplomats each recorded 10 hits, but F&M committed three costly errors compared to just one for Messiah. The Falcons also took advantage of runners in scoring position, hitting .412, and got their leadoff batter on in six of the nine innings.
 
The first three innings saw two hits by Messiah and one by F&M, with neither team able to put any runs on the board. In the top of the fourth, Colin Fry walked, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a Chris LaRose RBI groundout to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead without registering a hit in the inning. In the bottom of the frame, the Diplomats got the run right back on a Max Schwartz RBI single with one out. However, Shirk was able to get out of a jam with two runners on to escape with just the one blemish.
 
In the top of the fifth, the Falcons took advantage of three Diplomat errors to score five runs with just three hits. Josh Hayner and Colin Fry notched back-to-back RBI singles with one out, followed by a deep blast to right center off the bat of Ben Wilson that just missed leaving the park, hitting the top of the fence for an RBI double. Austin Pletcher recorded an RBI groundout and Wilson scored on an error by the F&M shortstop to round out the scoring in the big inning for the Falcons.
 
Shirk continued his great outing in the bottom of the inning, allowing two baserunners but stranding both. Messiah tacked on another run in the top of the sixth on LaRose's second run-scoring groundout of the day to take a 7-1 lead.
 
Shirk ran into trouble in the bottom of the seventh, as the Diplomats led off the inning with three straight singles, followed by a bases-clearing double by Justin Cavegn. With the lead cut to 7-4, Shirk's afternoon was done and he gave way to Drew Betz, who managed to get all three outs without allowing another run, stranding two runners on base.
 
The Falcons got all four runs back in the top of the eighth, as with Jimmy Kustra on second and two outs, Dan Wiederrecht roped an RBI double to the fence in left center, followed by an RBI single through the right side by Josh Hayner. On the eighth pitch of the next at-bat, Colin Fry launched a two-run shot over the fence in left, putting the Falcons back up by seven. The 11-4 margin would hold, improving the Falcons to 7-9 on the year.
 
Messiah is next scheduled to travel to Widener University for a conference doubleheader, weather permitting, on Saturday, Apr. 1. First pitch of game one is slated for noon.