GRANTHAM, Pa. - The Messiah baseball team improved to 5-1 in the MAC Commonwealth with a 15-5 victory over the Albright Lions on a rainy Friday evening in Grantham. The Falcons fell into a 4-0 hole before they stepped to the plate, but rallied to take a 6-4 lead after three frames. From there the Falcons never looked back, scoring multiple runs in five of their eight trips to the plate.
 
At the dish, Dustin Isanogle went a perfect 4-4 with three runs scored and three RBI. He also stole two of Messiah's eight bases on the afternoon. Mason Valentino delivered a big two-run double in the first and in the seventh, Sam Zercher hammered an opposite field, two-run homer over the scoreboard, helping highlight the day at the plate.
 
As mentioned, Messiah improves to 5-1 in the MAC Commonwealth this season. The Falcons have won six of their last seven games to improve to 15-11 on the season.
 
The Falcons will be back in action tomorrow afternoon when they host the Eastern Eagles in a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 12:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
Like Tuesday's game against Albright, the Falcons fell into an early hole after allowing four runs in the top of the fourth. The Lions took advantage of a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and an error to score their four runs. Albright scored their first run on a sacrifice fly before their first two hits of the game scored three more runs.
 
Trailing 4-0, Messiah put two runs on the board on a Mason Valentino double to straight-away center field. The two-bagger scored Dustin Isanogle, who singled earlier in the frame and Sam Zercher who reached on an error right after Isanogle. The double cut the Lions' lead in half at 4-2.
 
After a quiet second inning, Messiah hung a four-spot on the board in the bottom of the third. Sam Zercher and Kasey Caras both drove home runs with back-to-back RBI doubles. Later in the frame, Kasey came around to score on a third and third play, stealing home. Joshua Ammons then doubled and brought home Clayton Roberts. The big inning gave Messiah a 6-4 lead after three innings of play.
 
Messiah added to their lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 9-4 lead. The Falcons took advantage of two walks and a hit by pitch as they added their insurance runs. Messiah knocked three base hits in the frame with runs scoring on a Joshua Ammons single, a hit-by-pitch, and a wild pitch.
 
Albright threatened for multiple runs in the sixth, scoring once, but Alex Weakland came on in relief and stranded two in scoring position. With the run, Albright made it a 9-5 game.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, Messiah tacked on four insurance runs with Dustin Isanogle ripping a two-run double to left center, followed by an opposite-field two-run homer off the bat of Sam Zercher. The four-run frame lifted Messiah's lead to eight at 13-5.
 
The Falcons scored their final two runs of the game in the eighth on a Timothy Glavin two-run pinch hit single to left center. The knock drove home Eric Stigers and Clayton Roberts to give Messiah the eventual winning margin of 15-5.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Saturday afternoon when they host the Easter Eagles in a conference doubleheader, beginning at 12:00 p.m. The Falcons currently stand atop the MAC Commonwealth standings with their 5-1 conference record. The Eagles are currently sporting a 2-4 mark in the conference.