XML Box Score 1 |
XML Box Score 2 PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. - The Messiah baseball team opened up MAC Commonwealth play and their spring break trip on Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader against Arcadia in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The Arcadia Knights swept the Falcons with a 5-3 victory in Game One before Tyler Showers tossed a no-hitter in Game Two in a 6-0 Knights' victory.
Messiah logged four hits on the day with
Chris LaRose picking up a pair of singles in Game One.
Trent Culver and
Hunter Brindle each drove home a run in the first game.
Messiah and Arcadia will be back in action with the final game of their three-game series at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Game One - Arcadia defeats Messiah 5-3
With Messiah playing as the home team in the doubleheader, Arcadia struck first with an unearned run in the top of the first on a fielder's choice. Messiah limited the damage, stranding two runs in the inning.
Josh Hayner singled in the bottom of the frame and advanced into scoring position with a stolen base, but was left on the pads when a strike out ended the frame.
After a quiet second inning, Arcadia doubled their lead with an RBI groundout in the third. Messiah tied the game, scoring a pair of unearned runs thanks to a passed ball and squeeze bunt.
Messiah broke the tie by manufacturing a run in the bottom of the fifth to take a 3-2 lead.
Chris LaRose started the frame with a single to centerfield and was sacrificed over to second with a bunt by
Jarod Bingaman.
Jimmy Kustra took over for LaRose at second as a pinch runner. Later in the inning, Krustra came around to score on a groundout by
Trent Culver to second base.
Both teams went down in order in the sixth and the Falcons took a 3-2 lead into the seventh and final frame. Messiah's starter
Jordan Nichols was still in the game and induced a groundout to begin the frame. a pinch hit double by T. Gonzalez put the tying run in scoring position, but Nichols got an infield pop-up for the second out of the inning. A single to left chased a pinch runner home from second, tying the game at 3-3. With the game tied and two outs, Sean Carew stepped to the plate and gave Arcadia the lead with a two-run homer to left field.
The Falcons were turned away in order with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts in the bottom of the seventh and Arcadia claimed the 5-3 win to begin the doubleheader in come-from-behind fashion.
Game Two - Arcadia defeats Messiah 6-0
Messiah struggled to get their bats going in Game Two with Arcadia's starter Tyler Showers shutting down the Falcons for all seven innings. The right-handed junior tossed the first complete game of his career, allowing no hits and just one base runner on a leadoff walk in the top of fourth.
Arcadia took the lead with an RBI double in the top of the first off the bat of Phil Pierfy. Four runs in the fourth inning made it a 5-0 lead for the Knights before Arcadia finished the scoring with a run in the top of the sixth.
Trent Culver was the only base runner for the Falcons in Game Two, leading off the fourth inning with a walk.
Messiah and Arcadia will finish their three-game series tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.
