COLUMBIA, Md. - Messiah traveled south on Saturday morning to take on the Marymount Saints in a non-conference doubleheader in early March. The Saints earned a 3-1 victory in the first game of the double-dip, but the Falcons salvaged a split by winning the night cap 3-2. In Game One, Messiah's Trey Prichard singled in the top of the sixth to score Josh Hayner to account for Messiah's lone run of the contest. Trent Culver singled home a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game Two to give Messiah the 3-2 walk-off victory.
 
The Falcons move to 3-1 on the young season and will next take the field on Wednesday when they travel to Johns Hopkins to face the Blue Jays at 3:30 p.m.
 
Game One - Marymount defeats Messiah - 3-1
The Saints threatened in the bottom of the first inning with a pair of singles that stayed on the ground, but the Falcons cut down the game's would-be first run between third and home for the final out of the frame to end the threat.
 
After Messiah was held scoreless through the first three frames, the Saints got on the board first with three runs in the bottom of the third inning. A leadoff single started the inning and three errors by the Falcons followed to allow three unearned runs to come around to score. Marymount got just one ball out of the infield with a sacrifice fly to center, scoring the final run of the inning. The first two runs came around to score on a fielding error and a throwing error.
 
Despite putting runners on in the fourth and fifth, Messiah was unable to get on the board until the sixth inning. A one-out walk from Josh Hayner and a stolen base later, had Messiah in scoring position with two away. Trey Prichard singled to centerfield chasing home Messiah's first run of the day. That was all the Falcons would get in the frame as a groundball ended the inning.
 
Messiah put two runners on the seventh, but a double-play ball and a groundout ended Game One and gave the Saints the 3-1 victory.
 
Ryan Bergenhagen got the win for Marymount, tossing 5.1 innings of one-run ball while allowing three hits and striking out three. Jordan Nichols took the tough luck loss after allowing three unearned runs on three hits over five innings. Nichols struck out four.
 
Game Two - Messiah defeats Marymount - 3-2
Playing as the home team, the Falcons jumped on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI groundout from Kyle Wickenheiser. The productive out brought home Ryan Hentschel and gave Messiah the 1-0 lead.
 
That lead would stand up for the vast majority of the game thanks to stellar pitching from Messiah starter Ethan Hess. The junior righty tossed six-shutout innings to start the game, allowing just three hits over the shutout frames.
 
The Saints finally got to Hess in the top of the seventh, putting two runs on the board to take a 2-1 lead. A leadoff single in the top of the seventh put a runner on for the Saints. After a wild pitch Casey Baker singled to right to tie the game at 1-1. Two batters later, Bill Wojcik hit a sacrifice fly to left and the Saints took the lead for the first time in the game at 2-1.
 
Despite an error, Hess and the Falcons escaped the inning without any further damage and trailed by just one heading to the bottom of the final frame.
 
A pair of Saints' errors in the bottom of the seventh helped the Falcons load the bases with one away and Trent Culver played the hero with a two-run single to right field. His knock chased home Jarod Bingaman and Clayton Roberts for the winning runs to give Messiah a walk-off, 3-2 victory.
 
Ethan Hess earned the win in Game Two after tossing a complete game with four strikeouts while allowing two runs (both earned), five hits, and four walks.
 
What's Up Next
By splitting the doubleheader, Messiah improves to 3-1 on the season and is scheduled to be back in action on Wednesday when they travel to Johns Hopkins at 3:30 p.m.