GRANTHAM, Pa. – Strong pitching, good defense, and timely hitting allowed the Messiah baseball team to pick up a pair of victories over the Eastern Eagles on Saturday. The Falcons edged out the Eagles 3-1 in Game One of the doubleheader before pulling away late in Game Two and winning by an 11-1 final score. Nathan Stein and Jason Long combined to throw 14.2 of the 15 innings on the day, allowing just two runs and eight hits while helping the Falcons to a sweep.

Messiah generated just enough offense in Game One to earn the victory before scoring 11 runs on 14 hits in the second game of the doubleheader. Drew Hurst went 4-5 in Game Two and 5-8 on the day to help lead Messiah's offense.

With the sweep, Messiah moves to 17-6 on the season and currently holds top spot in the MAC Commonwealth standings with a 7-1 record. The Falcons and Eagles will conclude their three-game series on Monday with a single game beginning at 3:30 p.m. in St. Davids, Pa.
 
Game One – Messiah defeats Eastern, 3-1
The Falcons and Eagles were both held scoreless in the opening inning, but both had identical chances in the second frame. With one out in the second inning, the Eagles put runners on the corners. A hard hit ball was gobbled up by third baseman  Drew Hurst to start an inning-ending double play. Just a few minutes later, Messiah was in the same situation, putting runners on the corners with one away. Luke Ott hit a bouncing ball up the middle that was mishandled by the shortstop, allowing a run to score and the Falcons to put runners on second and third. While Messiah was unable to add any more runs in the inning, they took an early 1-0 lead.
 
The Falcons added a run in the bottom of the fourth to double their lead. After a single by Dylan Beard and a sacrifice bunt, David Martinez roped a first-pitch triple over the right-fielder's head to score Beard from second with two outs.
 
An inning later, Messiah tacked on a third run. Isaiah Parido led off the frame with a walk and then promptly stole second. One pitch later, Drew Hurst lined a single down the left-field line to bring Parido home.
 
While the Falcons were adding insurance, Nathan Stein was getting into his grove on the bump. The senior starter allowed just two base runners across the third and sixth innings. Stein walked the leadoff man in the third and allowed a leadoff double in the fourth. The walk in the third was picked off and Stein left the leadoff double stranded in the fourth.
 
After Stein picked up two quick outs in the top of the seventh, things got a little dicey. A two-out walk started a rally for the Eagles. A double brought home a run to make it 3-1. Two more walks loaded the bases and Stein was pulled for Christian Foltz. Facing the Eagles leadoff hitter, Foltz induced a sky-high flyball to left field that Luke Ott caught to end the game.
 
Stein earned his sixth victory of the season after tossing 6.2 innings of one-run ball. He struck out seven batters while allowing just four hits and walking five. Foltz picked up his second save of the season after getting the final out of the contest.

Game Two – Messiah defeats Eastern, 11-1 (8 innings)
For the second-straight game, the Falcons were led by a stellar pitching performance from their starter. Jason Long took the pill in Game Two and tossed eight innings allowing just one unearned run on four hits and two walks while striking out one. With his stellar performance, Long earned his four win of the season while lowering his ERA to 2.25 on the year.
 
While Long was slicing up the Eagles, the Falcons were getting the job done at the plate. Messiah put three runs on the board in the bottom of the third to take a 3-0 lead. Nick Moyer led off the frame with a single and Isaiah Parido followed with a single up the middle. On Parido's single, Moyer hustled to third. The centerfielder came up firing, but his throw bounced out of play and allowed Moyer to score and Parido to head to third. Drew Hurst then recorded an infield single, allowing Parido to score and later in the frame Dylan Beard lifted a sacrifice fly to right field making it a 3-0 Messiah lead after three innings of play.
 
After scoreless frames in the fourth and fifth, the Eagles got on the board in the sixth inning. A leadoff single moved all the way to third when a pickoff attempt got away. A sacrifice fly got the Eagles on the board, but Long was able to limit the damage and the Falcons held a 3-1 lead after the top of the frame.
 
The Falcons added three more runs in the home-half of the inning with David Martinez scoring from first on a failed pickoff attempt and Isaiah Parido driving home a pair of runs with a double to left-center field.
 
Messiah kept adding to their lead, with two more runs scoring in the seventh inning when Luke Ott drove a single up the middle in the rain.
 
Leading 8-1, the Falcons plated three more runs in the bottom of the eighth with Isaiah Parido scoring on a wild pitch and Evan Wagaman lining a two-run double to the gap in right-center field. The double ended the game with a 10-run rule in effect for the second game of the doubleheader.
 
Drew Hurst led the Falcons with a 4-5 effort in Game Two, scoring a pair of runs and driving home one.
 
What's Up Next
The Falcons and Eagles will conclude their three-game series on Monday when they play in St. Davids, Pa. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.