Fredericksburg, VA - After dropping game one 5-4 in heartbreaking fashion, Messiah baseball earned a split of a pair of seven-inning games with Mary Washington on Saturday afternoon with a 3-2 victory in game two.
Messiah moves to 3-2 on the season, and will take a week off before heading down to Port St. Lucie, FL for spring break. The Falcons will play six games in the warm weather, including the start of conference play with three against Albright.
Game 1
The first game began as a classic pitcher's duel, as Messiah starter
Jordan Nichols didn't give up a hit through four innings, and a pair of Mary Washington hurlers only gave up three hits while keeping the Falcons off the board.
Messiah would break through in the fourth, as
Dan Wiederrecht led off the inning with a single,
Josh Hayner was hit by a pitch, and
Colin Fry followed with an RBI single to center that scored Wiederrecht. After a strikeout,
Kyle Schoen walked to load the bases, and then a wild pitch moved all three runners up, with Hayner trotting across home plate to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead.
Austin Pletcher then walked to load the bases again, and
Sam Stewart came through with a two-RBI single to left, scoring Fry and Schoen. Two strikeouts ended the inning, but Messiah headed to the bottom of the inning with a 4-0 lead.
Nichols kept the no-hitter going through the fifth, but ran into some trouble in the bottom of the sixth. Two hits for the Eagles and a pair of costly mistakes (a passed ball and an error) led to two runs, both unearned.
After a scoreless inning for the Messiah bats,
Drew Betz came in to try to close out the first game in the bottom of the seventh. He got the first two batters to strike out and ground out to third, but three consecutive hits – a double, triple, and single – drove in two runs to tie the game at four. A groundout ended the inning, and it was on to extras for the Falcons and Eagles.
Messiah had a small threat in the top of the inning, as
Austin Mellinger singled with two outs and then stole second, but was stranded as
Jon Mullin lined out to right field. Betz came back out to pitch the eighth, and got in a jam right away, as two singles and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. Mary Washington's Kyle Bynum then hit a fly ball to center that proved to be deep enough to score the runner from third, and the Eagles stole game one by a final score of 5-4.
Both teams had seven hits in the opener, but three errors by Messiah compared to none for Mary Washington aided in the Eagle comeback.
Nichols gave it a fantastic effort, going six strong innings with nine strikeouts and only giving up the two runs, both unearned, but was given a no-decision as Betz (0-1) was saddled with the loss. Fry and Stewart each had good games at the plate, each recording two hits and one and two RBI, respectively.
Game 2
Messiah got on the board early in the second game on a two-run blast to center by
Colin Fry that scored
Adam Janney.
Quinton Kuntz started on the mound for the Falcons, getting through the first inning unscathed, but then allowed five hits in the second. A huge strikeout with two outs and the bases loaded limited the damage to just two runs, and the Falcons and Eagles went to the third tied at two.
After going down 1-2-3 in the third,
Jon Mullin led off the fourth by reaching first on an error by the Eagle third baseman. One out later, he stole second, and was then brought home by
Sam Stewart with an RBI single to center.
The next two innings went by quickly, as no runs and only two hits were recorded between the two teams.
Ethan Hess came in to pitch in the fifth for the Falcons, working through that inning with ease, but ran into a jam in the bottom of the sixth. He got the first batter to ground out to short, but then a walk, single, and walk loaded the bases with one out for Mary Washington. With the pressure on, Hess buckled down and got two huge strikeouts to end the inning and the threat, keeping the one-run lead.
The Falcons were unable to add any insurance runs in the top of the seventh as they were retired in order. Hess stayed out for the bottom of the inning, and gave up a leadoff single. The next batter struck out, followed by a fielder's choice that retired the lead runner for the second out of the inning. Down to their last out, the Eagles sent in a pinch-runner to first base, who was promptly picked off by Hess to end the game, and preserve the 3-2 victory for Messiah.
Despite being outhit by Mary Washington in the second game 11-3, Messiah made their hits count, and only recorded one error compared to three for the Eagles. Fry was the offensive star, as he had one of the three hits and two of the three RBI in the contest. Kuntz (1-0) earned the win for Messiah, going four innings with three strikeouts. Hess got the first save of his career, pitching three high-pressure innings, striking out five and only allowing three hits.
