ANNVILLE, Pa. - After cruising to a 12-3 victory over Lebanon Valley College in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, Messiah baseball was walked off by the Dutchmen in the bottom of the seventh in a wild game two with a final score of 10-9.

Messiah moves to 10-17 on the year and 6-10 in the MAC Commonwealth, while LVC is now 10-19 overall and 6-12 in the conference.

The Falcons have a very quick turnaround before their next game, as they will travel to Arcadia for a doubleheader tomorrow that is a make-up from earlier in the season. First pitch of game one is set for noon.

Game One
The story of the first game was Lebanon Valley's defensive miscues on the field, as the Dutchmen committed eight errors that led to seven of Messiah's 12 runs coming in unearned fashion. Jordan Nichols was also very effective on the mound, going the distance and giving up three runs on just five hits while walking one and striking out ten.

Trey Pritchard had a good game at the pate, recording three RBI on one hit and two walks. Ryan Hentschel was also impressive, going 2-5 with a pair of doubles and two RBI. Colin Fry also recorded two RBI and went 3-4 in the win. Despite scoring 12 runs and recording 13 hits to go along with all the runners reaching base via errors, it could have been much more for the Falcons as they left 11 runners on base.

Messiah got the scoring started in the second inning on Hentschel's first double of the day that scored Austin Mellinger. The Falcons added three more in the next inning to take a 4-0 lead after three frames, but Lebanon Valley would come back and cut the deficit to one with a two-run homer in the fourth and a bases-loaded wild pitch in the fifth.

The Falcons broke the game open in the top of the sixth, though, as Hunter Brindle, Dan Wiederrecht, and Trey Pritchard all recorded RBI singles and Ryan Hentschel knocked his second RBI double of the game to put the Falcons up 9-3 after six innings. Three more runs came home in the top of the seventh, and Nichols closed out the complete game by striking out the side to give Messiah the 12-3 victory.

Game Two
Messiah got off to a good start in game two as well, as a Kyle Schoen two-RBI single in the first and a Hunter Brindle RBI single in the second gave the Falcons a 3-0 lead after two innings. That held until the bottom of the fourth, when Messiah starter Brandon Shirk ran into his first trouble of the game. After giving up just one hit in the first three frames, Shirk allowed four runs on three hits, including a three-run homer by LVC's Colin Albright that gave the Dutchmen a 4-3 lead.

The Falcons responded immediately with a big inning in the top of the fifth, as Josh Hayner tied the game with an RBI triple and then scored and gave the Falcons the lead when Ryan Hentschel was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. BIlly Davis followed with a two-RBI single, and Hentschel stole home before the third out was recorded as Messiah took an 8-4 lead.

However, that lead was also short-lived, as LVC scored two more runs off of Shirk in the fifth and then tallied three off reliever Ben Stewart in the sixth to regain the lead, 9-8. The Falcons were not done, though, as Dan Wiederrecht led off the top of the seventh with a single and stole second to put the tying run in scoring position with no outs. After a two quick unproductive outs on a popout and a lineout that endangered Messiah's scoring chances, Billy Davis hit a grounder to second base that was mishandled, allowing Davis to reach safely and Wiederrecht to score and tie the game at nine.

Chase Peiffer entered on the mound in the bottom of the seventh, and started well by retiring the first two batters on a strikeout and a flyout to right. However, a walk and a single put two on with two out for Bryan Towers, who knocked a single to center field to score a run and walk the game off, 10-9.