GRANTHAM, Pa. – Billy Davis highlighted a thrilling comeback for Messiah baseball in Game One of a doubleheader against the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen on Tuesday afternoon. With the Falcons trailing by one heading to the bottom of the seventh, Trent Culver worked a leadoff walk before Davis launched his second home run of the season for the dramatic walk-off victory. In Game Two, Messiah fell into an early hole and attempted to rally back late, but their efforts were not enough as the Dutchmen earned the 8-5 victory to split the doubleheader.

With the split, the Falcons move to 7-10-1 overall and 5-10-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. Messiah will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Stevenson for a doubleheader beginning at noon.

Game One - Messiah defeats Lebanon Valley - 11-10
The Messiah baseball team won in dramatic fashion in the first game of its home doubleheader against Lebanon Valley College, 11-10, on Tuesday afternoon. Billy Davis provided the heroics for the Falcons, launching a walk-off two-run shot to right center field to lift Messiah to its fourth-consecutive victory. Davis led all batters with five RBI, as Kasey Caras and Jarod Bingaman each knocked in two runs for the Falcons.
 
The high-scoring seven inning affair lasted over three hours as a combined twelve different pitchers were used between the Falcons and Dutchmen. Seven different Messiah batters hit safely in the victory, as Bingaman, Caras, and Davis all recorded multi-hit games.
 
Caras crushed his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the third inning to give the Falcons a 3-1 edge. Lebanon Valley answered in the top of the fifth inning, plating eight runs on nine hits to take a commanding 9-3 lead. The Falcons clawed their way back into the game, using run-scoring at-bats from Bingaman, Davis, and Clayton Roberts to make it a one-run game (10-9) entering the bottom of the seventh.
 
Trent Culver led off the frame with a walk as Davis followed with his game-ending long ball over the right center field fence to complete his 3-for-4 day at the dish.
 
Nathan Stein earned the win for Messiah, his first-career win in a Falcon uniform.

Game Two - Lebanon Valley defeats Messiah - 8-5
The Falcons fell behind early on in game two 4-0 after the top of the first inning. Conor Smith came up big for the Dutchmen in the inning with a three-run triple to clear the bases and give them the aforementioned 4-0 lead. This lead would grow to 7-0 after Lebanon Valley plated three more runs in the top of the fifth inning with Smith picking up his fourth RBI of the game. He would finish with five RBI in the game and six total in the doubleheader. 

Messiah would not go down without a fight however as they plated their first runs in the bottom of the fifth on a Trent Culver single to make it 7-1. He would later steal second, which allowed Kasey Caras to steal home after the catcher attempted to throw out Culver at second, this made the score 7-2. The Dutchmen would pick up an insurance run in the seventh to make it 8-2 before Messiah made one last push in the bottom of the inning.

The first four batters got on base, with Jason Johnson hitting an RBI single into right field to score Caras and make it 8-3. Mason Valentino followed up with a sacrifice fly to make it 8-4 before Joshua Ammons had an RBI groundout to make it 8-5. It wasn't enough for the Falcons though, as they ultimately dropped the contest 8-5 to move to 7-10-1 overall on the season. 

What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action when they travel to Stevenson University on Saturday for a doubleheader with the Mustangs beginning at noon.