BALTIMORE, Md. - Messiah baseball strung together five-straight hits to score three runs in the top of the ninth to take a one-run lead, and Quinton Kuntz struck out the side in the bottom of the frame to give the Falcons a 4-3 upset victory over No. 7 Johns Hopkins University on Monday afternoon.
 
The improbable win marks the second time in Messiah's last eight games that they have taken down a team ranked in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association top-10, as near the end of last season the Falcons upended No. 1 Shenandoah University at home.
 
Before the final inning, the story of the game on both sides was the pitching, as through eight frames the Johns Hopkins staff had only allowed three hits and Messiah's hurlers had given up just four. Brandon Shirk started on the bump for the Falcons, going four innings and giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits while striking out six. Luke Luckenbaugh was impressive in his collegiate debut, tossing a scoreless fifth with one walk and one punchout. No pitcher was more remarkable than Quinton Kuntz, though, as the senior threw four shutout frames, only allowing a pair of hits and recording nine of his 12 outs via the strikeout.
 
Despite the impressive efforts on the mound, the Falcons fell behind early, as the Blue Jays pushed three runs across in the second and third innings to take a 3-0 lead.
 
In the top of the fifth, Messiah got one back as sophomore Nick Godwin launched the first home run of his collegiate career to cut the deficit to two. Neither team was able to get anything going offensive over the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings as the only Messiah baserunner was erased on a double play and Kuntz struck out six of the 12 Johns Hopkins batters that he faced.
 
Down to their final three outs, the Falcons went on a rally for the ages in the top of the ninth. Ben Wilson led off with a single to right, followed by a Kyle Schoen pinch-hit single to left. Clayton Roberts came in to run for Schoen, and Roberts and Wilson were able to advance one base on a wild pitch to put the tying run on second base with nobody out.
 
Messiah had the man they wanted at the plate in senior slugger Colin Fry, and Fry delivered with a sharp liner up the middle to score Wilson. Mark Leach then pinch-hit for Josh Hayner, and after Fry was caught stealing for the first out of the inning, Leach came through in the clutch with a single to center to score Roberts and tie the game up at three. Leach advanced to second on the throw home, setting up Dan Wiederrecht with the go-ahead run in scoring position. Wiederrecht kept the rally going, notching the fifth-straight single for the Falcons to score Leach. The next two Falcon hitters were retired, but not before Messiah had grabbed a come-from-behind 4-3 lead. Even more incredible, all five of the Messiah hits in the inning came with two strikes.
 
Kuntz was sent back out to close the game for the Falcons, and things got interesting right away as Zach Jaffe led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to left to put the tying run in scoring position. However, Kuntz ended the rally right then and there as he mowed down Chris DeGiacomo swinging, Mike Smith looking, and Alex Darwiche swinging to complete the upset victory for Messiah. Kuntz earned the win, proving that he has a knack for coming up big against top competition, as he also earned the victory in last year's toppling of Shenandoah.
 
This was just the fourth time out of 18 attempts that the Falcons have upended the Blue Jays in the all-time series between the two programs.
 
The Falcons improve to 2-2 on the year, while Johns Hopkins falls to 3-3. Messiah is next scheduled to play their home opener on Wednesday against Gettysburg at 3:00 pm.