GRANTHAM, Pa. - Despite a phenomenal outing from
Nathan Stein, the Falcons trailed the Alvernia Golden Wolves 1-0 in heading into the bottom of the seventh in Game Two of their doubleheader. With their back against the wall and needing a victory to stay alive in the race for a spot in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament, Messiah rallied for five runs in the seventh and a sixth in the bottom of the eighth to earn a 6-1 victory. Stein tossed 8.1 innings to earn the victory while striking out seven.
The thrilling win came on the heels of a tough, 8-3 loss in Game One, but combine the doubleheader split with Alvernia with a Lebanon Valley sweep of Stevenson in Annville and the Falcons are heading to the MAC Commonwealth Tournament as the No. 5 seed.
Messiah, Stevenson, and Widener all finished in a tie for the fourth place. All three went 2-2 against each other, forcing the tie to be broken with their records against the top team in the conference, Lebanon Valley. Widener swept the Dutchmen and as a result earn the No. 4 seed. Messiah split with Lebanon Valley and earn the No. 5 seed while Stevenson was swept by the Dutchmen and will be on the outside looking in at this year's MAC Commonwealth Tournament.
The Falcons will play at Widener in the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game on Tuesday at a time to be determined.
Game One - Alvernia defeats Messiah - 8-3
The Messiah baseball team was unable to battle back after the Alvernia Golden Wolves took a 7-1 lead after the fourth inning, dropping Game One by an 8-3 final. The Falcons struck first with an RBI single by
Clayton Roberts in the bottom of the second, but that was all the Falcons could get until the late innings. The single from Roberts drove home
Mason Valentino, who singled up the middle with one out earlier in the frame.
Alvernia took advantage of a pair of Messiah errors in the third, plating three runs on three hits. An inning later, Alvernia was at it again. This time the Golden Wolves scored four runs on four hits with a Justin Ayala delivering the big hit with a two-run single to center.
The back-to-back big innings, but Messiah in a 7-1 hole. The Falcons mustered a run in the seventh on a
Kasey Caras sacrifice fly and another in the bottom of the ninth on a
Dustin Isanogle single to right, but it was not enough as Alvernia took Game One 8-3.
Game Two - Messiah defeats Alvernia 6-1
Nathan Stein was the story in Game Two, tossing eight-plus innings of one-run baseball. Stein's lone blemish came in the top of the fifth when Alvernia's Matt Edwards hammered a solo home run over the left-field wall for the Golden Wolves' first hit of the game.
Prior to the home run, Messiah had two quality chances to take an early lead, but were unable to score in the third or the fourth after they loaded the bases in both innings with one out.
The Falcons would wait until the seventh inning to get on the board. Trailing 1-0, Messiah's
Evan Wagaman dopped a single into right field to begin the frame. After a sacrifice bunt and a fly out,
Dustin Isanogle lined a two-out double to left center field, plating Wagaman and tying the game at 1-1.
Following an intentional walk to
Kasey Caras, the Falcons took advantage of a few bad hops to take the lead.
Joshua Ammons singled to short stop on a ball that bounced into the chest of Justin Ayala that allowed the bases to load for Messiah. The very next pitch was a one-hopper off the bat of
Mason Valentino that hit the lip of the infield grass and shot over Ayala's head into left-center field.
Two-runs scored on Valentino's single and Messiah took a 3-1 lead. After
Jason Johnson pinch ran for Valentino, the Falcons perfectly executed a delayed double steal. Johnson broke for second early enticing a throw. After two throws of a rundown, Ammons broke for the plate, sliding in head first ahead of the tag and giving Messiah a 4-1 lead.
Sam Zercher followed with an RBI single up the middle and the Falcons' lead was 5-1.
In the eighth, a perfectly executed squeeze bunt from
Reed Wagner went for a single to third and
Evan Wagaman trotted home safely with Messiah's sixth run of Game Two.
While
Nathan Stein began the top of the ninth, a single and a walk chased him from the game with one out in the frame.
Dennis Snyder came in and slammed the door with back-to-back strikeouts looking in a non-save situation to give Messiah the 6-1 victory.
What's Up Next
Just a few minutes after the Falcons completed the Game Two comeback, Lebanon Valley earned a 7-4 victory in Annville to complete a doubleheader sweep of the Stevenson Mustangs, giving Messiah a berth into the MAC Commonwealth Tournament.
The Falcons, Stevenson Mustangs, and Widener Pride all finished the conference season with 9-7 records. By way of their results against the top team in the conference, Lebanon Valley, the Pride won the tie breaker, claiming the fourth seed. Messiah clinched the fifth seed and Stevenson ended the day on the outside looking in.
Messiah will head to Chester, Pa. on Tuesday for the MAC Commonwealth Play-In Game against the Widener Pride at a time to be determined.
