READING, Pa. - The Messiah baseball team cruised to an 18-1 victory on Thursday afternoon at Albright College to move to 3-6-1 on the season. The Falcons had 14 hits in the contest, which included six home runs. Timothy Glavin and Colt Price both had four RBI in the game, while Thomas Murray led Messiah with three hits. The Falcons jumped all over the Lions in the opening innings, taking an 8-0 lead in the top of the second and never looking back in the win.

Four pitchers combined for 11 strikeouts, while only allowing four hits. Messiah will be back in action Saturday afternoon when they travel to Annville, Pa. to take on the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen in a MAC Commonwealth doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m.

Early and Often
Messiah wasted no time getting on the scoreboard Thursday afternoon. Clayton Roberts worked a leadoff walk before stealing second. A Kasey Caras double ensued later in the inning to give the Falcons a 1-0 lead. Caras would later score on a Lions error before a Colt Price sacrifice fly would bring in another run to make it 3-0 after the first inning.

Murray followed the same formula in the top of the second, singling and stealing second to give the Falcons a runner in scoring position. Mason Valentino walked, and Albright balked to put runners on second and third. Roberts roped a two-run single to right field to make it 5-0 Messiah. Timothy Glavin added to Messiah's hot start with a three-run homer later in the inning to give the Falcons a comfortable 8-0 lead after just two innings.

That was all Paul Hansel and Luke Blasick needed from the offense, as the pair worked three innings each while only allowing one unearned run in the bottom of the third. The offense got back to work in the top of the fourth, scoring four more runs off the strength of a Glavin RBI double and Price three-run homer to make the score 12-1.

The runs continued to pile up for the Falcons in the following innings, as Jason Johnson and Jarod Bingaman hit solo homers in the fifth before Sam Zercher hit a two RBI triple in the sixth to make the score 16-1.

Alex Weakland threw two scoreless innings of no-hit baseball before sending the game to the ninth inning. This was where Zercher and Thomas Murray hit back-to-back solo home runs for Messiah before Trent Culver struck out a pair in the bottom of the ninth to cap off an 18-1 Falcons victory.

Inside The Box Score
The bats were cooking for Messiah all game long, as five Falcons had multiple hits in the game, and four Falcons had multiple RBI. Messiah racked up 10 extra-base hits and four stolen bases in the win.

What's Up Next
As mentioned, the win moves the Falcons to 3-6-1 on the season as they travel to Lebanon Valley College for a doubleheader with the Dutchmen on Saturday beginning at noon.