GRANTHAM, Pa. – The Messiah softball team split a home doubleheader against Hood College on Wednesday afternoon at Starry Softball Field. The Falcons cruised in Game One behind a complete-game shutout from senior pitcher
Madison Walter, winning 2-0, but fell short in Game Two, 8-4.
Offensively, Messiah had several notable performances, including a home run from
McKenzie Shannon in Game One and a three-hit game from
Jaden Keister in Game Two.
The doubleheader split leaves Messiah's overall record at 22-12 (10-4 MAC Commonwealth).
Game One – Messiah 2, Hood 0
Walter was in the circle for her 16th start of the season, retiring the Hood side in order to begin the game in the top of the first inning. The Falcons put a run on the board in the bottom half of the inning when Shannon launched her second home run of the season, a solo shot to left-center field. Shannon collected her team-leading 14th RBI of the season with the home run, giving Messiah a 1-0 edge.
The Falcons increased their lead to a two-run advantage in the bottom of the second inning, taking advantage of an infield mishap from the Blazers to plate
Elianna Litwin. Walter was cruising through the Hood lineup, allowing just one hit in the opening three innings, striking out three batters. Litwin made a phenomenal diving play to end the top of the third inning, grabbing a hot-shot groundball to her left side to save the tying run from scoring.
Walter escaped a bases-loaded jam with just one out in the top of the fourth inning to preserve Messiah's 2-0 lead. The senior pitcher induced a fielder's choice groundout to home plate for the second out and issued an inning-ending groundout to work out of the trouble.
The bats fell silent for both sides for the remainder of the game as Messiah grabbed the Game One win, 2-0. Walter was impressive in the win, sitting down the final 10 Hood batters in order to snag her 11th victory of the season. The senior pitcher struck out six batters, upping her season total to 118.
Messiah collected five total hits in the game from five different players.
Game Two – Hood 8, Messiah 4
Both sides plated runs in the opening frame of the contest as Hood scratched across two unearned runs to jump ahead to a 2-0 lead. The Falcons cut their deficit in half in the bottom half of the inning, manufacturing a run behind two sacrifice bunts, taking advantage of
Alexa Burger's speed. Burger led off the inning with a double down the left field line, putting herself in scoring position.
Hannah Dyer provided the RBI-sacrifice bunt to pull Messiah within a 2-1 deficit.
The Blazers' offense erupted in the top of the second inning, scoring four runs on four hits. In the inning, Hood recorded three-straight hits, extending its lead to 6-1 after the frame.
The Falcons continued to chip away at their deficit, plating two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Messiah notched three-consecutive two-out hits, highlighted by run-scoring knocks from both Dyer and
Olivia Denmark. At the end of three innings of play, Messiah trailed Hood, 6-3.
Messiah continued its offensive momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning, threatening by loading the bases with two outs. Dyer came to the plate, looking to tally more RBIs. The first-year infielder launched a deep fly ball to left field, eventually getting caught on the warning track.
The Blazers tacked on two insurance runs in the top of the sixth inning behind two hits, extending their lead to a commanding five-run advantage (8-3). Despite an RBI-single from
Jaden Keister in the bottom of the seventh inning, Messiah was unable to muster a comeback and fell short, 8-4.
Maggie Chinnadurai came on in relief, pitching four innings without allowing a single earned run. Chinnadurai struck out four batters in her outing, dipping her season ERA to 0.95.
In addition to Keister's big offensive performance, both Burger and Litwin recorded two hits.
What's Next
The Falcons return to action tomorrow afternoon, hosting Gettysburg College for a home doubleheader at 3:30 p.m.
