GRANTHAM, Pa. - Messiah baseball was able to score in six of the eight innings that were played against Franklln & Marshall College on Monday afternoon, but the Diplomats' Dan Marano tallied seven RBI to lead F&M to a 10-8 victory. The game, which was played in flurries of snow from start to finish, was called after eight innings and almost three and a half hours due to darkness.
Messiah falls to 5-13 on the season, while F&M improves to 9-11-1.
In total, Marano was 4-5 with a grand slam, a three-run homer, two runs scored, and seven RBI. The Falcons were led offensively by
Trent Culver (2-3 with three runs scored) and
Colin Fry (1-3 with two RBI).
Messiah jumped on the board early, as Fry doubled home Culver for a run in the first and
Dan Wiederrecht scored on a passed ball in the second to give the Falcons a 2-0 lead after two frames. The top of the third spelled trouble for Messiah starter
Luke Luckenbaugh, though, as the Diplomats put up a four-spot that included Marano's three-run shot to take a 4-2 lead.
After F&M added another run in the top of the fourth, the Falcons got two back in the bottom of the inning on a
Derek Freed RBI groundout and a wild pitch that scored Culver to cut the deficit to 5-4. Messiah would tie it up in the bottom of the fifth, as the Falcons loaded the bases with one out before Freed tapped a slow roller back to the pitcher that was booted and allowed all runners to be safe on the play. However, Fry followed by grounding into a double play to end the hopes of a big rally.
In the bottom of the seventh, Messiah was able to take the lead as
Ryan Hentschel scored on a wild pitch. Before the inning was over, Fry made it 7-5 in favor of the home team with a sacrifice fly to score Culver.
The lead did not last long though, as in the top of the eighth the first three Diplomat batters all reached to force reliever
Chase Peiffer out of the game.
Trent Culver came in from his right-field position to take the mound, and was taken deep to right-center field by Marano on the first pitch he threw for a grand slam that gave F&M a 9-7 advantage. The Diplomats added another run before the inning was over, and a one-run rally in the bottom of the frame by the Falcons was not enough as the game was called and F&M came away with the 10-8 victory.
Messiah will next hit the road on Wednesday when they make the short drive to Carlisle to take on Dickinson College at 3:30 p.m.
