Chester, PA - After tying game one at two in the top of the fourth, Messiah baseball gave up six runs in the bottom of the inning and fell to Widener University 8-2 on Sunday afternoon. In game two, the Falcons still could not get their bats going, and fell by a 5-1 score.
 
The Falcons fall to 7-11 on the year and 2-6 in the MAC Commonwealth.
 
Game 1
 
Widener scored two in the second inning off Messiah starter John Griffitts, but the Falcons came back to tie it in the top of the fourth. With two on and one out, Ben Wilson singled to third base to drive in Josh Hayner from third. One out later, Kyle Schoen reached on an error by the Pride first basemen, bringing home Colin Fry to make it 2-2.
 
However, Griffits only managed to record one out in the bottom of the inning before giving up five runs. Matt Wright entered to try to stop the damage, but could not hold Widener back from scoring one more in the inning to take an 8-2 lead.
 
The Falcons only mustered one hit over the final three innings, and Messiah fell to Widener by that 8-2 score.
 
Tyler Mitcheltree pitched well in relief, going 1 2/3 innings while giving up one hit. Hayner had two of the Falcons' five hits on the day, and scored one of the two runs.
 
Game 2
 
Messiah outhit Widener in the second game of the doubleheader, 7-6, but could not string together hits, only scoring one run in the top of the fifth on an RBI double from Dan Wiederrecht. 
 
Jordan Nichols started the game for the Falcons, going 3 1/3 innings and giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits with two walks and one strikeout. Drew Betz pitched the final 2 2/3, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three.
 
Jimmy Kustra was the lone bright spot offensively, going 2-3 with two singles.
 
The third and final game of the conference series between Messiah and Widener is scheduled for tomorrow afternoon (Monday, Apr. 3) at 3:30 p.m.