CARLISLE, PA. – The Messiah softball team kicked off their season with a tough loss against Dickinson this afternoon, losing game one of the doubleheader 5-4. Game two also had its nail-biting moments, but the Falcons survived multiple Red Devils comeback bids and won the second game 7-6.
The Falcons are back on the field on February 25, when they face Neumann in Florida.
Game 1
Dickinson 5 – 4 Messiah
The Red Devils scored early with two runs in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Falcons got their first run of the season in the third inning after
Alexa Burger scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of
Kyley Mellage.
Messiah answered with two more runs to take the lead in the fifth inning when
Elianna Litwin scored all the way from first off an
Alexa Burger single, thanks to a throwing error by Dickinson's third baseman. Burger scored in similar fashion like the third inning as Messiah took a 3-2 lead into the bottom half of the fifth.
The Falcons tacked on another run in the sixth but faced trouble in the bottom of the seventh. After the first two baserunners reached in the inning, a single with runners on second and third cut the deficit in half as Dickinson trailed 4-3 with runners on the corners, with only one out.
A squeeze bunt brought the tying run in as the Red Devils once again had runners on the corners, still with one out. After a flyout, a walk-off single gave the Red Devils the come from behind win, 5-4
Game 2
Messiah 7 – 6 Dickinson
The Falcons as they did in game one, generated a lead and held for most of the game, but made it exciting in the later innings. Messiah opened up a 3-1 lead after the second inning, thanks to a
McKenzie Shannon double and an
Elianna Litwin sac fly in the first inning. That was followed up by an
Alexa Burger solo homerun to left field as the Falcons led 3-1 until the seventh inning.
After scoreless innings from the third to the sixth, a
Hannah Dyer single brought in an insurance run for the Falcons, which proved to be a critical insurance run at that.
The bottom of the seventh inning was nearly identical to game one, with the first few baserunners reaching base. The Red Devils got their second and third run of the game thanks to a wild pitch and a ground out making the game 4-3, in favor of Messiah. One more groundout and the tying run ran across the plate as the game headed to extras.
The eighth inning saw
Ali Wagner being placed on second base to kick off extras.
Elianna Litwin singled to give the Falcons the lead and advanced to third on the throw. Litwin would get thrown out at home on the following play on a fielder's choice.
As they did in the top half of the inning, the Red Devils started the eight inning with a runner at second and promptly brought that runner in to tie the game at 5-5. The game was headed to the ninth inning.
The Falcons added on two runs and appeared to add on a third run but it was determined that
Alexa Burger left early on a potential sac fly. But the damage had been done, as the Falcons got timely hitting from
Rebekah Wiley and
Kyley Mellage to bring in those two runs as the Falcons took a 7-5 lead into the bottom half of the ninth.
The Red Devils tacked on one run in the ninth but the Falcons ended the game on a
Tessa Spinosa throw to second to throw out the runner attempting to steal. The Falcons survived 7-6.
Up Next
The Falcons start off the 2023 campaign 1-1 and will travel to Florida to play Neumann University. That doubleheader will start at 11:30 AM in Winter Haven, Fl.
