READING, Pa. - The Messiah Falcons fought back from an 8-4 hole, but their comeback fell just short as the Alvernia Golden Wolves claimed an 8-7 victory. With the win on Sunday, Alvernia claimed the series victory, two games to one.
Messiah came just a few feet from taking the lead in the top of the ninth when
Sam Stewart sent a fly ball to the warning track in left with a runner on first, but it was caught for the second out on the inning. A pop out ended the game and gave the Alvernia the victory.
Messiah falls to 2-10 in the conference and 9-15 overall. The Falcons will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they travel to Johns Hopkins on Monday afternoon for a non-conference game at 5:00 p.m.
Messiah Takes an Early Lead
The Falcons scored in five of their nine trips to the plate on Sunday afternoon. The Falcons took an early lead with a run in the second and two more in the third. Chris Larose got Messiah on the board with an RBI single in the second immediately after
Sam Stewart doubled to the left centerfield gap.
In the third,
Josh Hayner ripped a two-out, two-run double just inside the bag at first to chase
Jarod Bingaman and
Trent Culver home. The double gave Messiah a 3-0 lead.
Alvernia's Big Innings
The Golden Wolves put together a pair of four-run frames in the third and fifth innings. In the third, Alvernia scored four runs on three hits, taking advantage of a trio of walks in the inning. The big inning gave Alvernia the lead at 4-3 and right after the Falcons scored one run in the top of the fifth, Alvernia went back to work in the bottom of the frame.
The Golden Wolves scored four more runs in the fifth to take the lead. Alvernia collected five hits while taking advantage of two Messiah errors to score the four runs.
Falcons Attempt Late Comeback
Messiah struck for three more runs across the fifth and sixth innings, when Hayner knocked an RBI triple to right in the fifth and
Conner Reyer hit a two-out, pinch hit double in the sixth to bring home two more runs. Hayner's second extra-base hit tied the game in the fifth and, following the second of two four-run innings for Alvernia in the fifth, Reyer brought Messiah within two at 8-6.
Trailing by just two, Messiah threatened in the top of the eighth when they loaded the bases with no outs thanks to a single, double, and hit by pitch. After a strikeout, Culver hit a sacrifice fly to left field to make it an 8-7 game, but a pop-out down the first-base line ended the threat as the Falcons stranded two runners.
Messiah made a final push to tie the game in the ninth when
Sam Stewart sent a long fly ball to left field with a runner on first and one away. Stewart's fly ball was tracked down on the warning track and Messiah was unable to plate the tying run, falling 8-7.
What's Up Next
Messiah is back in action on Monday afternoon when they travel to Baltimore for a non-conference game against Johns Hopkins at 5:00 p.m.
