FREDERICK, Md. - Heading into the ninth inning of their first MAC Commonwealth game of the season Messiah trailed the Hood Blazers 7-3 on the road. The Falcons showed their moxie and fight, scoring seven runs on eight hits in the ninth inning alone to take a 10-7 lead.
Noah Barrall came on in relief and tossed a perfect, three-up, three-down ninth to give Messiah the come-from-behind 10-7 victory to start the conference season in the win column.
At the dish,
Kasey Caras led the way, finishing with a pair of doubles in a 4-5 effort. He drove home three runs, including a key two-run double in the wild ninth.
With the victory, Messiah moves to 11-10 on the season and 1-0 in the conference. The Falcons will be back in action on Friday when they complete their two-game with Hood at 3:30 p.m. at the Starry Baseball Field.
How It Happened
The Falcons held the upper hand in the contest for the first three and an half innings, scoring their first run in the top of the first off a double from
Kasey Caras down the left-field line. After Hood tied things up with a run in the second, Messiah responded with another run in the fourth off a single from
Jarrett Gordon.
Despite holding a 2-1 lead in the middle of the fourth, Messiah could have really broken open the game. In four trips to the plate, Messiah had stranded six runners on the pads, including three in the fourth. By contrast, Hood had just two baserunners in their first three trips to the plate.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Blazers took advantage of two Messiah errors to score four runs and take a 5-2 lead. Tyler Schwarzman delivered the big hit in the frame, driving home two runs with a single to center.
The Blazers scored a controversial insurance run in the bottom of the sixth on a questionable balk call to bump their lead to 6-2.
Messiah got back on the board in the eighth with a
Clayton Roberts double that chased
Joshua Ammons home. Ammons' run made it a 6-3 game, but the Blazers quickly responded with a run in the bottom of the stanza to grab a 7-3 advantage heading into the ninth.
The Falcons immediately made things interesting in the ninth.
Reed Wagner walked to lead off the inning and then moved around to third on a stolen base and a wild pitch.
Dustin Isanogle then doubled down the left-field line to bring home Wagner. An error then put runners on first and second with no outs.
Kasey Caras proceeded to rope a double to right-center field, driving home two in the process and pulling Messiah within one at 7-6 with no outs.
Another double by
Mason Valentino brought home Caras to tie the game up at 7-7. After a sacrifice bunt,
Clayton Roberts tripled to right center to give Messiah their first lead since the fourth at 8-7.
Evan Wagaman and
Reed Wagner followed with RBI singles later in the frame to cushion the lead and give Messiah a 10-7 lead.
Noah Barrall came in to toss a perfect ninth inning, getting a pop-up, ground out and a strikeout to end the game and give the Falcons a gritty 10-7 victory to open the conference season.
On the mound,
Kenny Runkel earned the victory in relief. Runkel tossed two innings, allowing one run on two hits while striking out three batters.
Nathan Stein got the start for the Falcons, tossing six quality innings, allowing six runs (two earned) on five hits while striking out six batters.
What's Up Next
With the win, Messiah improves to 11-10 on the season and 1-0 in the MAC Commonwealth this season. The Falcons will be back in action on Friday when Messiah and Hood wrap up their two-game conference series at 3:30 p.m. at the Starry Baseball Field.
