CRESSON, Pa. – With temperatures soaring into the 70s, Messiah baseball opened the 2018 season with a 17-6 rout of Mount Aloysius College on Wednesday afternoon.
The Falcons scored in every inning except the third, including back-to-back four-run innings in the eighth and ninth. Messiah tallied 18 hits and four walks in the contest and converted those baserunners into runs at a high rate, scoring 17 and only leaving seven on base. Seven different Falcons recorded at least two hits.
Dan Wiederrecht led the Falcons from the batter's box, reaching base in four of five plate appearances including two hits, two walks, three runs scored, a home run, and four RBI. Freshman
Trent Culver was impressive in his college debut, notching three hits and scoring three times.
Colin Fry and
Hunter Brindle also collected three hits for Messiah, and
Trey Pritchard chipped in with three RBI on two hits.
Brandon Shirk started the game for the Falcons but had a couple of issues with control early and gave way to
Drew Betz in the second inning. Betz finished the inning and completed the third as well, before
Quinton Kuntz pitched three strong innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts to hold down the Mounties.
It did not take long for Messiah to score their first run of 2018, as Culver led off the game with a walk, stole second, and advanced to third on a Fry flyout to right.
Josh Hayner knocked Culver in with a single, and Hayner would later score from third on an error by the catcher. With two on and two out,
Austin Mellinger singled to score
Dan Wiederrecht and give the Falcons a 3-0 lead before they had to take the field.
Messiah added a run in the top of the second to go up by four, but Mount Aloysius tied the game in the bottom of the inning aided by three-straight two-out singles. The Falcons came right back with a run apiece in the fourth and fifth innings, followed by a Wiederrecht homer with Fry aboard in the top of the sixth to put Messiah up 8-4.
The Falcons and Mounties traded runs in the sixth and seventh innings, and Messiah held just a 9-6 advantage going into the eighth. However, the Falcon bats proceeded to stamp out any form of a Mountie comeback, as Messiah scored four in the eighth (Pritchard two-RBI double and
Kyle Wickenheiser two-run homer) and four in the ninth (
Nick Godwin sac fly, Wiederrecht two-RBI single, and Pritchard RBI double).
The 17 runs for Messiah equaled their season-best from last year, as they also scored 17 times in a Spring Break win against the College of Mount Saint Vincent.
The Falcons will now look ahead to this Saturday, Feb. 24, as they are set to travel to Bridgewater College (Va.) for a doubleheader starting at noon.
