OWINGS MILLS, Md. – The Messiah baseball team split a road doubleheader at Stevenson University on Tuesday afternoon, winning the first game, 8-4, and dropping the second contest, 19-5.
Jarod Bingaman collected four hits across the two games, including a 3-for-3 performance in the first game, crushing his fourth home run of the season.
Trent Culver pitched five strong innings in the Game One victory, earning his first win of the season on the mound.
Despite falling in Game Two,
Reed Wagner contributed a phenomenal offensive performance. Wagner went 2-for-2, notching two RBI to up his season total to three. Wagner laced a career-high three hits, including two extra-base hits, the second multi-hit game of his career.
Game One
The Falcons got on the board early, plating a run in the opening frame to claim a 1-0 edge. Bingaman led the game off with a single, his 25th base hit of the season.
Jorge Zambrano III advanced Bingaman to second on a bunt to the pitcher, ultimately scoring on a wild pitch later in the inning.
Stevenson answered in the bottom half of the frame, tying the score, 1-1. Alex Kidwiler roped an RBI-double, scoring the tying run that was unearned after the Mustangs reached on an error to begin the inning. Stevenson threatened in the bottom of the second inning, advancing a runner to third base after a leadoff double, but Culver worked out of the jam after getting Amani Jones to pop out to end the inning.
Messiah regained the lead in the top of the third, 2-1, after Bingaman laced his second hit of the game.
Derek Freed scored the go-ahead run, who has hit safely in five of the Falcons' past six games after leading off the inning with a single.
Culver showed grit in the bottom of the third as Stevenson threatened to reclaim the lead. With runners on second and third with just one out, Culver induced a foul out and a groundout to work himself out of the jam. The Falcons carried the momentum to the top of the fourth inning as
Dylan Symonds provided a run-scoring knock, a one-out double down the left field line, scoring
Reed Wagner. The RBI-double was Symonds's third RBI of the season, as Messiah increased its lead to 4-1 after the sophomore catcher came around to score on a wild pitch.
The Mustangs answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth, cutting the deficit, 4-2. The Falcons promptly restored their three-run advantage in the top of the fifth inning, when Bingaman led off the frame with his fourth home run of the season, a shot to left field to give Messiah a 5-2 lead. A Culver triple and
Sam Zercher sacrifice-fly later in the inning increased the Falcon lead to 7-2.
The runs kept coming for the Falcons. Freed came around to score in the top of the sixth inning, building the lead to 8-2 after ripping his second base hit of the game. In the bottom half of the inning, the Mustangs tacked on two runs to cut the deficit, 8-4, but Messiah escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam with a double play and groundball putout.
Messiah held on to claim Game One, 8-4, as
Nathan Stein shut the door on the Mustangs in the bottom of the seventh inning, hurling a one-two-three inning behind two strikeouts.
Game Two
The Falcons looked to complete its second conference doubleheader sweep of the season in Game Two. Junior pitcher
Kenny Runkel made the start for Messiah, his second start of the season. Runkel provided 3.1 innings pitched, allowing five runs on nine hits, striking out two batters.
The contest was scoreless through one inning before Culver broke the deadlock in the top of the second inning, launching his fourth home run of the season to right field to give the Falcons a 1-0 edge. Wagner doubled Messiah's advantage in the same inning with a double to left center, plating Zercher. The RBI-double snapped an 0-for-5 streak at the plate for the junior.
Runkel held the Mustangs scoreless until the bottom of the third inning, when the Stevenson offense exploded for three runs, taking a 3-2 lead. The Mustangs continued to tack on runs in the fourth and fifth innings, scoring two in the fourth and three in the fifth. After five innings, the Falcons trailed, 8-2.
Messiah cut the deficit to 8-3 in the top of the sixth inning on hits from
Kasey Caras, Zercher, and Wagner. Wagner produced the run-scoring knock, his second RBI-double of the game.
The Mustangs' bats stayed hot, scoring nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, taking a commanding 17-3 lead. The Falcons scratched a run across the board in the top of the eighth inning on an RBI-groundout from Caras, the sophomore's team-leading 25th RBI of the season.
Stevenson held on two win the second contest of the doubleheader, 19-5. The loss dropped Messiah's overall record to 10-14-1, falling to 8-13-1 in MAC Commonwealth play.
Culver, after earning his first win of the season on the bump in Game One, followed with a strong 2-for-3 performance at the plate in Game Two. The senior's batting average is up to .394 after collecting three hits on the day, the best mark on the team.
Symonds, who ripped an RBI-double in the top of the ninth inning, recorded two RBI on the day. Of the sophomore catcher's 10 hits on the season, four of them are for extra bases.
What's Next
Messiah (10-14-1, 8-13-1 MAC Commonwealth) returns to Starry Baseball Field on Thursday, Apr. 22, hosting its final conference doubleheader of the 2021 season against Stevenson University, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
