BALTIMORE, Md. - Chris LaRose drove home three of Messiah's four runs on Monday afternoon, but the Falcons dropped a 14-4 decision against the No. 22 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. Johns Hopkins exploded with nine runs across the sixth and seventh innings to turn a 3-2 advantage into a 12-3 lead with just two innings remaining. Matt Richie delivered the big blow for the Blue Jays with a grand slam in the seventh inning to cap the scoring in the frame.

Both Chris LaRose and Billy Davis homered for the Falcons with LaRose getting the scoring started with a solo shot in the second inning and Davis connecting to left in the seventh.

Messiah falls to 3-4 on the young season and will be back in action on Friday when they travel to Widener to take on the Pride in their MAC Commonwealth opener.

Hanging Around Early
As mentioned, the Falcons struck first on Monday afternoon with Chris LaRose lifting his second career home run over the right-field wall in the top of the second inning to give Messiah a 1-0 lead.

The Blue Jays responded with a two run homer in the bottom of the third off the bat of Chris Festa to take a 2-1 lead. Then in the fourth, Messiah strung four-straight hits together with Jarod Bingaman, Ryan Hentschel, and LaRose all knocking singles to start the inning. Bingaman came around to score on LaRose's base hit to center to level the game at 2-2. It looked like the Falcons were in business to put a crooked number on the board with two on and no outs, but a strike out and a double-place ball ended the frame.

The score remained even at 2-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth, when a one-out sacrifice fly from AJ King gave the Blue Jays the lead back at 3-2.

Blue Jays' Big Innings
Messiah threatened again in the top of the sixth, but stranded a pair of runners before Johns Hopkins busted open the game with a four-run sixth. The Blue Jays scored their four runs on four hits to open up a 7-2 lead.

Billy Davis got one of the four runs back for the Falcons with a solo home run in the top of the seventh with a big fly to left field, making it a 7-3 game. The solo shot was Davis' first of his collegiate career.

Unfortunately, that was as close as the Falcons would come as the Blue Jays put a five-spot on the board thanks in large part to a grand slam from Matt Richie with two outs in the inning. Ritchie ended the game with six RBI, going 2-3 from the dish with the grand slam.

Despite Chris LaRose picking up his third RBI of the day on a sacrifice fly in the eighth, the Blue Jays scored a pair in the bottom of the frame to earn the 14-4 victory.

Christian Woodie got the start on Monday, tossing two scoreless innings before turning the game over to the bullpen.

What's Up Next
The Falcons begin MAC Commonwealth play this weekend when they travel to Widener to take on the Pride at 3:30 pm. on Friday. Widener will make the return trip for a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 12:00 p.m.