GRANTHAM, Pa. - Messiah baseball jumped out to a 7-2 lead after four innings and held on the rest of the way to defeat Juniata College in a nonconference matchup on Tuesday afternoon.

Glenn Petraitis got the win after throwing five innings and giving up just two runs on seven hits. Colin Fry had a great day at the plate, going 3-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Trent Culver, Josh Hayner, and Kyle Wickenheiser each added a pair of hits to aid the Falcon effort.

Messiah improves to 12-19 on the year, while Juniata falls to 10-23.

After Petraitis worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the top of the first, Messiah was able to get the first run on the board as three-straight singles from Hayner, Fry, and Wickenheiser put the Falcons up 1-0.

Juniata came back in the top of the second with a pair of runs on four hits to take a one-run lead that would last until the bottom of the third, when Messiah put together four runs on five hits to take a 5-2 lead.

The Falcons played some add-on in the fourth, as Culver scored on a Fry single and Hayner crossed the plate after a throwing error by the Eagles' catcher. Neither team would score over the next three innings, as Messiah's lead was still five heading into the eighth. Chase Peiffer pitched a scoreless sixth and freshman Carson Spangler threw two shutout innings in relief.

In the bottom of the eighth, Ryan Hentschel added some insurance for Messiah as the sophomore belted his first collegiate home run over the fence in left-center. Juniata's Isaac Maclay was able to tag Falcon reliever Drew Betz for a two-run homer in the top of the ninth, but that was as close as the Eagles would get as Messiah took the 8-4 victory.

The Falcons will now have a few days off before traveling to Albright on Friday to begin a three-game set with the Lions. A lot is on the line, as Messiah needs to sweep Albright and have Widener lose all three games to Hood in order to reach the MAC Commonwealth Championships next weekend.