ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Two days after dropping the first game of their series against the Eastern Eagles, the Messiah baseball team rebounded to sweep a doubleheader to win the series. On Sunday afternoon in St. Davids, the Falcons earned victories of 18-8 and 6-3 to take two out of three on the weekend.
The pair of victories moves the Falcons to 7-6 in the MAC Commonwealth and 11-12-1 overall on the season. Messiah will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon when they host the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen for a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m.
Game One – Messiah defeats Eastern – 18-8
It was a hit parade for the Falcons in Game One of the doubleheader with Messiah scoring in six of their seven trips to the plate in the contest. The result was an 18-8 victory over Eastern with 10 different players collecting at least one hit for Messiah. Jarret Gordon led Messiah with a 3-5 effort at the plate while
Sam Zercher launched his sixth home run of the season and drop home five runs in a 2-4 day at the dish.
The Falcons trailed 2-1 heading to the third inning, but a four-run Messiah frame put the Falcons up 5-2.
Isaiah Parido and
Ryan Friend each delivered two-run hits in the frame. The Eagles responded with two runs in the bottom of the third, cutting the Falcons lead to just one at 5-4.
Over the next three and a half innings, Messiah scored 13 runs while keeping the Eagles off the board to take a 18-4 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh. While Eastern pushed four runs across the plate, it was not enough as Messiah earned the 18-8 victory.
Nine different Falcons drove home runs in the contest.
Sam Zercher delivered the big blow with a three-run homer in the sixth to give Messiah a 17-4 lead at the time.
Game Two – Messiah defeats Eastern – 6-3
Like Game One, Messiah was fighting slightly uphill to start Game Two with the Eagles taking a 2-0 lead after two frames of play. That all changed when
Evan Wagaman launched a majestic two-out, two-run home run on the first pitch he saw in the top of the third, tying things up at 2-2. The two-out rally continued with a walk and a single, putting two on.
Ryan Friend delivered a two-run double to the right-center gap to give the Falcons a 4-2 lead.
After the Eagles scored a run in the fourth to pull within one at 4-3, Messiah added two insurance runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI double from
Sam Zercher and a wild pitch to take a 6-3 lead.
The Falcons hung a pair of zeros on the board in the bottom of the sixth and seventh to earn the 6-3 victory.
Brody Martin earned the victory for the Falcons, going four innings and allowing three runs (two earned).
Noah Barrall picked up the save with seven strikeouts across the final three innings.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Tuesday afternoon when they complete their three-game series against the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen with a doubleheader at 12:00 p.m. in Grantham. The Falcons dropped the first game of the series last Tuesday by an 11-1 final.
