Fayetteville, N.C. - After five innings on Friday evening the Messiah baseball team trailed the Methodist Monarchs 6-0. The Falcons responded with nine unanswered runs across the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings thanks to big swings from Joshua Ammons, Clayton Roberts, and Kasey Caras. Ammons started the scoring off with a three-run homer in the sixth. Roberts gave the Falcons their first lead of the night with a grad slam in the seventh and Caras added some insurance in the eighth with a two-run double.
 
The result of Messiah's nine-run outburst was their most exciting victory of the young season.
 
In his first collegiate appearance, Noah Barrall tossed five shutout innings, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out three and earning the victory in relief.
 
With the win, Messiah moves to 2-1 on the season and will complete their trip to North Carolina on Saturday with a split doubleheader against Washington College and Arcadia University.
 
Methodist Strikes First
Messiah put a pair of runners on in the first inning, but were unable to dent the board first. In the bottom of the frame, Methodist pushed four runs across to take a 4-0 lead. The Monarchs collected three hits in the inning, taking advantage of a pair of walks and a Messiah error to plate their four runs.
 
Monarch's Lead Grows
The Falcons threatened once again in the fourth with runners on the corners thanks to a double from Clayton Roberts and a two-out walk by Evan Wagaman, but they were unable to convert runners into their first runs of the game. In the fifth, Methodist put two more runs on the board after a single, walk and double to begin the frame.
 
The Monarchs rally was halted when Messiah reliever Noah Barrall entered his first career game. Barrall struck out the first batter he faced and then retired the next two with a groundout and a fly out.
 
Homers Put Falcons on Top
With the Falcons facing a 6-0 deficit, Messiah put two runners on with a single by Sam Zercher and a bunt single by Clayton Roberts with one away. After Zercher advanced to third on a wild pitch, Joshua Ammons deposited a three-run homer over the left-field wall for a three-run shot to cut the Methodist Monarchs in half at 6-3.
 
After a quiet bottom of the sixth, the Falcons went back to work in the seventh with a four-run frame thanks to a grand slam from Clayton Roberts. Jarrett Gordon started the inning by reaching on an error by the catcher on a strike out. After a strike out, Kasey Caras walked and Sam Zercher singled to load the bases. Clayton Roberts proceeded to hammer a grand slam to left field to give the Falcons a 7-6 lead.
 
Methodist put two runners on in the seventh, but stranded them on a strikeout and a groundout.
 
Insurance Runs
Leading 7-6, Messiah tacked on a pair of key insurance runs on a Kasey Caras double to right field. While Caras was thrown out attempting to stretch the two-bagger to a triple, Reed Wagner and Jarrett Gordon came around to score. The two-run double gave the Falcons a 9-6 lead.
 
Noah Barrall tossed a three-up, three-down frame in the eight and worked around a two-out walk in the ninth to earn the victory for the Falcons by a 9-6 final.
 
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah moves to 2-1 on the young season and will be back in action on Saturday with a doubleheader against Washington College and Arcadia University. The Falcons and Washington Shoremen get underway at 11:00 a.m. while Messiah and Arcadia play at 5:00 p.m.