Annville, PA – No. 9 Messiah softball won close in Game One and big in Game Two in a double-header sweep of Lebanon Valley on Thursday. The wins pushed Messiah to 18-3 on the season and 6-0 in the MAC Commonwealth. The first win of the day was also the 200th career conference win for head coach Amy Weaver.
 
The Falcons will next play on Saturday when they host Widener University in a double-header scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
 
Game One – Messiah 4, Lebanon Valley 3
Erin Cressman drilled a massive three-run home run to centerfield in the sixth inning to help the Falcons come from behind and win, 4-3. Cressman's longball came on a 3-1 count with runners on first and second, and it put the Falcons up 4-2. The Dutchmen picked up one more run in their last at-bat but Madelyn Yannetti induced a soft lineout to second to secure the win.
 
The Falcons' sixth inning started mildly when Carrie Fix grounded out to shortstop, but Samantha Esper and Amanda Jones hit back-to-back singles to start the rally. First-year pitcher Maddie Abbot then took on Cressman, and she was understandably careful but fell behind 3-1. She tried to avoid walking the Messiah cleanup hitter, but she caught too much of the plate and Cressman didn't miss it. Her towering shot to center as never in doubt as the Falcons raced out from the dugout to greet her at home plate.
 
Abbot, who entered the game with a 0.94 earned run average, allowed two Messiah runners to reach base in just the second and sixth innings and, unlike the second inning, she could not escape trouble late in the game. She finished the game with six hits allowed against four walks, with four earned runs across seven innings.
 
Madelyn Yannetti also went the distance for Messiah and she allowed just five hits against two strikeouts. The first of her three runs allowed was unearned on a missed catch at first by Cressman, and it tied the game at 1-1 in the third inning. The second run for Lebanon Valley scored in the fourth when Savannah Toth hit a leadoff double and was brought home by an RBI single from Elaine Gross.
 
But Yannetti recovered to sit down 10-straight batters before a one-out single in the seventh. A few batters later she sealed the game.
 
Cressman finished with two of the Falcons' six hits. The home run was her second in as many days, and also her fourth this season. The win, as mentioned, also secured head coach Amy Weaver's 200th conference victory in her 19-plus seasons with the Falcons.
 
Game Two – Messiah 8, Lebanon Valley 2
Emily Quatrale hit her first career home run, and both Amber Bingaman and McKenzie Tebbs also went deep to support a terrific performance from Carrie Fix in the circle. Messiah took Game Two by an 8-2 score.
 
The Falcons got on the board in the second inning, and it started with a leadoff single by McKenzie Tebbs. She was bunted over to second base by Amber Bingaman, and Sydney Boreman then reached base by way of an error on pitcher Lexi Windsor. Nicole Kreimer pinch ran for Boreman, and she stole second with Emily Quatrale at the plate. Now with two runners in scoring position, Quatrale hit a nubber to the first base side of the mound, and Windsor could not scoop it in time. Tebbs came home and, with Windsor still flipping slowly to first, Kreimer shrewdly turned around third and slid under the tag at home for a 2-0 lead.
 
The early lead for Messiah was welcomed, and it was also partly made possible by some stellar defensive work in the bottom half of the first. With Sammy Bost on first with no one out, Quatrale took a routine ball at second and went to Erin Cressman for the out at first. Cressman then quickly fired behind Bost at second and Amanda Jones put down the tag for the second out. No with two away, Toth hit a towering drive to center where Bingaman raced back and laid out for a tremendous catch at the warning track.
 
The Dutchmen got a run back in the third, but the Falcons broke things open across the fourth and fifth innings. In the fourth, with a run in already, Quatrale did almost the exact opposite of her infield single in the second by drilling a two-run home run to left. The longball was the first of her career, and it came on her birthday nonetheless. That made the score 4-1, and Carrie Fix's RBI double a few batters later put the Falcons up by four. In the fifth inning Amber Bingaman joined the home run parade with a two-run shot of her own to left. It was her third home run of the year.
 
In their final at-bat Messiah launched their fourth home run of the game, this one off the bat of McKenzie Tebbs. The solo shot made it 8-1.
 
Amanda Jones (2-4), Tebbs (3-4), Bingaman (2-4), and Quatrale (2-4) all had multiple hits to lead the onslaught. Notably, Carrie Fix collected her 69th career walk, tying her with the program record. Fix also went the distance in the circle and allowed just four hits and a walk against two strikeouts.