GRANTHAM, Pa. – Despite hitting three home runs and scoring 14 runs on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon the Messiah baseball team fell short of the Lebanon Valley Dutchmen by a 17-14 final score. In the non-conference game, Messiah put runs on the board in six of their nine trips to the plate, but were unable to keep pace with the Dutchmen. Lebanon Valley put single runs on the board in the first, second, and fourth before putting crooked numbers up in three of the final five frames.
Evan Wagaman led Messiah's offensive effort, knocking a pair of home runs as part of a 4-5 day at the plate. Wagaman drove home four runs, scored three times, and now has nine homers on the year.
Isaiah Parido hammered his eighth homer of the year in the ninth, lifting his total to eight on the season.
With their three home runs on Tuesday, Messiah has set a new single season program record for home runs in a season with 34 big flys on the year. The previous program record of 33 was set during the 2005 season.
The Falcons will be back in action on Friday afternoon when they head to Stevenson to take on the Mustangs at 3:30 p.m.
How It Happened
The Dutchmen scored single runs in the first and second inning to take an early 2-0 lead. Messiah swiftly responded with four runs in the bottom of the second to jump ahead 4-2.
Joshua Ammons launched a two-run double off the wall in left center to highlight the four-run frame.
In the bottom of the third,
Evan Wagaman hit his first homer of the day just to the left of the scoreboard in right center. A Dutchmen sacrifice fly in the fourth, pulled Lebanon Valley within two at 5-3. After the Falcons were turned away in order in the bottom of the stanza, the Dutchmen went back to work. Lebanon Valley scored six runs in the top of the fifth on just two hits, taking advantage of three walks, an error, and a hit by pitch.
Messiah countered with three runs in the bottom of the frame on a two-run single by
Luke Ott and a sacrifice fly by
David Martinez. After a busy fifth inning, the Dutchmen held a 9-8 lead.
Lebanon Valley scored five more runs in the sixth, ballooning their lead to six runs at 14-8.
Evan Wagaman started the Messiah comeback with his second homer of the game, knocking a two-run home run to right center. Later in the frame,
David Martinez drove home a run with a ground out to pull the Falcons within three at 14-11.
Messiah plated another run in the eighth on an infield single from Wagaman, but the Falcons left the potential tying runs on base. The Dutchmen added some much needed insurance with three runs in the top of the ninth.
Despite a two-run
Isaiah Parido homer in the bottom of the ninth, Messiah did not have enough to earn the victory, falling 17-14 in the non-conference game.
Both pitching staffs used Tuesday afternoon as a bullpen game, throwing a total of 15 pitchers between the two sides.
What's Up Next
The Falcons will be back in action on Friday when they begin a three-game conference series with the Stevenson Mustangs at 3:30 p.m. in Owings Mills, Md.
