LANCASTER, Pa. - The Messiah baseball team scored three runs in three different innings to takedown the Franklin & Marshall Diplomats by an 11-9 final score on Wednesday afternoon. Messiah had five different players collect multi-hit games with Ryan Hentschel leading the way with three runs batted in. Seven different pitchers combined to get the job done on the mound with Carson Spangler earning his first career victory, improving to 1-1 on the season.

Jarod Bingaman swiped three bases for the Falcons, who claimed their third-straight win of the season, improving to 8-13 overall.

Messiah is next in action on Friday afternoon when they travel to Reading to begin a key, three-game series against the Alvernia Golden Wolves. First pitch on Friday is slated for 3:30 p.m.

Three-Run Frames
Messiah and Franklin & Marshall mirrored one another innings in the first, second, and third with both going scoreless in the first and second before each plated a run in the third. Messiah opened up a six-run cushion following the fifth inning thanks to a pair of three-run innings in the fourth and fifth.

In the fourth, Messiah cashed in on RBI singles from Conner Reyer, Ryan Hentschel, and Josh Hayner to score their first of three three-run innings. After holding the Diplomats scoreless in the fourth, Messiah went back to work in the fifth with an RBI single from Jarod Bingaman, a fielder's choice by Clayton Roberts, and a sacrifice fly from Trent Culver to build a 7-1 lead after five frames.

After the Diplomats scored five runs in the sixth, Messiah turned in their third and final three-run inning in the top of the seventh. The Falcons plated those three runs on two hits and three errors with runs scoring on a fielder's choice, a sacrifice fly, and an error.

In the game, Messiah and Franklin & Marshall combined for a total of 11 errors with the Diplomats committing eight on their own. Surprisingly, those eight Diplomat errors resulted in just three unearned runs.

Diplomats Plate Late Runs
As mentioned, Franklin & Marshall plated five runs in the sixth to pull within one at 7-6. Those  five runs were scored on five hits with a pair of two-run doubles accounting for a majority of the damage in the frame.

Messiah answered with their three-run top of the seventh, but the Diplomats immediately responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning to close the gap to one once again. Franklin & Marshall took advantage of two walks and a hit by pitch, needing just one hit to score three runs in the inning.

Insurance Run
Messiah held a 10-9 lead heading to the ninth, but added an insurance run when Chris LaRose reached on an error by the short stop and Josh Hayner hustled home to double the Falcons' lead. After a scoreless bottom of the ninth, Messiah claimed their third-straight victory with the 11-9 win over the Diplomats.

What's Up Next
The Falcons will take Thursday off before traveling to Alvernia to begin an important three-game MAC Commonwealth series against the Golden Wolves. Messiah and Alvernia will play a single game on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before coming to Grantham for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon.