GRANTHAM, Pa. – The fourth-seeded Messiah softball team is set to host fifth-seeded Eastern University in the MAC Commonwealth Quarterfinals tomorrow at Starry Softball Field, beginning at 1:00 p.m. The quarterfinals matchup is a best-of-three format as the Falcons host the Eagles for a twin bill tomorrow, with a potential series-deciding Game Three on the cards for Sunday in St. Davids, Pa., if the two sides split contests.
Messiah experienced success opposite Eastern in the regular season, sweeping the season series, 4-0. The Falcons outscored the Eagles, 24-7, including shutouts in the first three contests.
See below for a quick preview of the quarterfinals matchup:
No. 4 Messiah Falcons – 12-9 overall, 8-6 MAC Commonwealth
Messiah enters the conference tournament riding a four-game conference winning streak. The Falcons opened their 2021 slate on the road at Stevenson on Mar. 12, sweeping the Mustangs in a doubleheader, 9-4 and 4-1. Following the strong start to its season came a rough patch of six-consecutive conference defeats, dropping doubleheaders against Stevenson (Mar. 13) and York College (Pa.) (Mar. 20-21).
The Falcons got their season back on track with a home doubleheader sweep of Eastern (Mar. 27), topping the Eagles in Game One, 5-0, and shutting them out again in the second contest, 3-0. The twin bill sweep of the Eagles was a pivotal moment in Messiah's season as they took advantage of strong pitching performances from both
Madison Walter and
Brynne Baker. The two pitchers each issued complete-game shutouts, striking out a combined 11 batters on the day.
Walter is a team-leader in ERA (1.21), strikeouts (81), opponent batting average (1.96), and wins (7). The junior pitcher's ERA is a second-best mark in the MAC Commonwealth. Offensively, sophomore outfielder
Olivia Denmark is having a breakout season. In 42 at-bats, Denmark has produced a team-high .405 batting average.
McKenzie Shannon leads the Falcons in RBI (13) and is one of four Messiah batters with multiple home runs on the season.
No. 5 Eastern Eagles – 11-11 overall, 11-11 MAC Commonwealth
Eastern also enters the postseason with some momentum after sweeping Hood College in a home doubleheader last weekend (Apr. 24-25), 8-1 and 4-2. The doubleheader sweep came in timely fashion, snapping a four-game losing skid. The Eagles flexed in a home-away doubleheader against Albright College on Mar. 20-21, grabbing all four decisions while outscoring the Lions by a commanding 39-2.
Sami Britton has been a star for Eastern this season. The junior leads the team in batting average with an impressive .448 mark, ranked third in the conference. Britton is also a team-leader in several other offensive categories including hits (30), slugging percentage (.612), and doubles (9), while pitching a team-high 2.05 ERA in seven appearances.
How to Follow
The Falcons will host Eastern at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Starry Softball Field. The Messiah Athletics Spectator policy will be in effect for all MAC Commonwealth Championship Tournaments this spring, allowing current Messiah students, staff, and faculty to attend the contest, but no off-campus visitors will be allowed at Messiah Athletic events.
Fans are encouraged to follow the action with a live stream of the contest available at GoMessiah.tv. Live stats of the MAC Commonwealth Quarterfinals can be found at gomessiah.com/sbstats.
MAC Commonwealth Tournament History
Messiah competes in its first MAC Commonwealth Tournament since the 2018 season, when they were crowned MAC Commonwealth Champions for the ninth time in program history. Since the 2016 season, the Falcons have accumulated two MAC Commonwealth Championships (2016, 2018).
Messiah softball enters tomorrow's Quarterfinals matchup with a three-game conference tournament winning streak (dating back to 2018), boasting an overall record of 31-16 (.660%) in the quarterfinals round.
Tomorrow's matchup between Messiah and Eastern will be the first-ever postseason contests between the two sides, as the Falcons look to begin a quest to clinch its 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
