GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah softball team claimed a pair of victories over the Hood Blazers on Saturday afternoon. The Falcons opened both their home schedule and conference slate with wins by scores of 4-2 and 8-2.
In Game One, the Falcons took a 4-0 lead before holding off a late rally by the Blazers to claim the first game of the double-dip. In the nightcap, the Falcons fell behind 2-0 in the second inning before scoring eight unanswered runs en route to the 8-2 victory.
Messiah will be next in action on Tuesday when they travel to Lebanon Valley to take on the Dutchmen in a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m.
Game One - Messiah defeats Hood 4-2
The Falcons used RBI from
Haylee Anders,
Jaelynn Harbold, and
McKenzie Tebbs to build a 4-0 lead through five innings before the Blazers got on the board with two runs in the sixth. Messiah limited the damage with
Madelyn Yannetti stranding two runners on the bases. After Hood was held scoreless in the seventh, Messiah claimed the 4-2 victory.
After two scoreless innings to begin the game, Messiah got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the third.
Karlee Stocksdale started the inning with a triple to right field and just moments later,
Haylee Anders reached on an error that allowed Stocksdale to hustle home.
Messiah doubled their lead in the fourth, thanks to another leadoff extra-base hit.
Kara Birosak roped a double to right and two batters later,
Jaelynn Harbold scored her with a triple to center. A pair of groundouts ended the inning, stranding Harbold at third.
In the fifth, Messiah once again doubled their lead with two runs to take a 4-0 lead. After two strikeouts started the inning,
Erin Cressman singled to right center to start a two-out rally. Two-straight errors allowed Cressman to score and the inning to continue.
McKenzie Tebbs took advantage of the extra outs with a run-scoring single through the left-side, giving Messiah the 4-0 lead.
As mentioned, the Blazers scored a pair of runs in the fifth on three hits and a walk, but
Madelyn Yannetti stranded the tying runs on second and third when she got the final out of the inning on a looking strikeout. Yannetti turned in a scoreless seventh, giving Messiah the 4-2 victory.
In the game, Messiah had six different players collect base hits with Rianna Trexler going 2-3 at the dish for the only multi-hit game for the Falcons.
Game Two - Messiah defeats Hood 8-2
The Falcons fell behind 2-0 in the second inning, but battled back with eight unanswered runs in the third, fourth, and fifth to finish the doubleheader sweep.
After a scoreless first inning by both teams, Hood opened up the second inning with a double to right center, a single to right field, and an RBI single up the middle to bring in their first run of the day. A bunt would move both runners over and load the bases with no outs.
Erin Cressman snagged a line drive to record the first out of the inning but the Blazers hit an RBI fly ball to center field that brought in their second run of the inning.
The Falcons didn't answer back until the bottom of the third inning.
Karlee Stocksdale reached first on a throwing error and advanced to second after
Haylee Anders was thrown out at first.
Erin Cressman hit a single to right field that moved Stocksdale third but she kept going and beat the throw at home to score the first run of the day for the Falcons.
Messiah kept things going in the bottom of the fourth inning.
McKenzie Tebbs started things off with a single through the right side. Tebbs advanced to second after a bunt from
Jaelynn Harbold. With one out and Tebbs on second, Rianna Trexler came to the plate and hit a two-RBI bomb over the center field wall, giving the Falcons the 3-2 lead.
Isabel Seise reached first on an error before
Karlee Stocksdale reached on fielder's choice with Seise out at second.
Haylee Anders walked her way to first to bring
Erin Cressman to the plate. Cressman ballooned the Falcons' lead to 5-2 with a two-RBI double to left field.
Ashley Carroll hit an RBI single to bring home Cressman and give Messiah the 6-2 advantage over the Blazers.
The Blazers started the top of the fifth inning with a walk and a fly out but a single to shortstop but a runner on first and second. A ground out first base moved the runners to second and third with two outs but Hood left both on base after a fly out to center field ended the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth,
McKenzie Tebbs hit a triple to right field. After
Jaelynn Harbold walked, she hustled her way over to second base, putting two runners in scoring position. Rianna Trexler reached first on an error by the second basemen, bringing in Tebbs and moving Harbold to third.
Isabel Seise came to the plate and hit an RBI sacrifice fly out to right field, bringing home Harbold to give the Falcons the 8-2 lead and final score.
What's Up Next
The Falcons are back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Lebanon Valley to take on the Dutchmen in a doubleheader beginning at 3:00 p.m.
