Grantham, PA – The No. 9 Messiah softball earned a split with Widener University this afternoon winning 4-2 in game one and then falling 10-4 in the second game. In the first game Shannon Denny was 2-2 and Emily Quatrale went 2-3 with two RBI's. Erin Cressman
Was 3-6 with one run scored and three RBI's on the day, Samantha Esper was 2-6 with one run scored, and Amanda Jones went 2-5 with one run scored.
 
Carrie Fix (7-2) went the distance in game one and was very strong in the circle, holding off a late threat by the Pride. In game two Madelyn Yannetti picked (9-1) picked up her first loss of the season throwing five innings, gave up three hits and four runs. Not the normal defensive output by the Falcons as they committed a total of nine errors on the day.
 
Game One: Messiah 4, Widener 2
Defense controlled the game for the first couple innings as both teams struggled to get runners on base. In bottom of the third, Emily Quatrale started things with a double to left center and then Shannon Denny laid down a bunt single, Quatrale advanced all the way to third on the play. Carrie Fix also reached base by way of a bunt single to load the bases. With one out, Amanda Jones hit a sacrifice fly to left field scoring Quatrale and giving Messiah the 1-0 lead.
 
Widener had an opportunity in the top of the fourth to score when Katie Robuck reached on a throwing error with one out and then Antonucci singled to left field and runners advanced to second and third on another throwing error. Fix was able to get Carli Benozich to pop up to Jones before walking Nicole Burt to load the bases. The next batter, however, Fix also forced to pop up for the third out of the inning.
 
The Falcons added three runs in the bottom of the fourth, all with two outs, to extend the lead 4-0. With two outs, McKenzie Tebbs reached on an error by the center fielder and advanced to second on the play. Sydney Boreman then delivered a two-out double to right center scoring Tebbs. Quatrale then reached on an error and with runners at second and third, Shannon Denny hit a single to center field to score Boreman and Quatrale.
 
The Pride scored two runs in the next inning to cut the lead 4-2 when Liv Rogers hit a two-run home run to left center. They went down in order in the sixth but made some noise in the seventh inning. Still down to Messiah 4-2, Horvath singled to left field and was advanced to second on a ground out. Lauren DelRomano reached on a fielder's choice as Jones made a nice play to get Horvath at third for the second out. The next batter for Widener reached on an error and Liv Rogers, who hit the home run earlier stepped up to the plate, but Fix stayed strong in the circle and forced her to ground out to third to end the game.
 
Game Two: Messiah 4, Widener 10
In game two, even though the Falcons held a steady lead for the first four innings, the Pride tied it up in the fifth and then added six more runs in the sixth inning leading to the 10-4 loss for Messiah.
 
Messiah scored in the first inning when Samantha Esper singled with one out to start the inning. Amanda Jones advanced her to second on a sacrifice bunt and then Erin Cressman stepped up with a single up the middle to score Esper. The score would be 1-0 until the top of the fourth when Widener tied it up at one. Gosselin singled for the Pride and later scored on an error by Messiah.
 
The Falcons answered in the fifth by adding another run to the board. Samantha Esper singled to shortstop but was thrown out at second on a steal attempt. With two outs, Amanda Jones double to left center and was brought home on a single by Erin Cressman to give Messiah the 2-1 lead.
 
The top of the sixth was a big one for the Pride as they added six runs to their total. Messiah did not commit any errors on defense but Widener had four hits in the inning to generate the runs. In the bottom of the inning the Falcons scored a run when Lynsey Quinn hit a single to center field to get things going. Kayla Parker entered to run for Quinn and advanced to second on a wild pitch and also advanced to third on another wild pitch. Haylee Anders then hit a double to right center to score Parker.
 
Widener scored three more runs in the seventh inning of three hits and Messiah committed two errors in the inning. Heading into the bottom of the seventh the score was 10-3 in favor of the Pride. Erin Cressman hit a home run in the bottom of the seventh to put another run up for the Falcons but that is all they would get and went on to lose 10-4.
 
The Falcons are now 19-4 overall on the season and 7-1 in MAC Commonwealth play. They are back in action this Wednesday at home against Susquehanna University and game time is set for 3:00 p.m.