OWINGS MILLS, Md. – A consistent offensive effort allowed the Messiah baseball team to score in each of their last seven trips to the plate and claim a 12-5 victory over the Stevenson Mustangs on Friday afternoon. The Falcons built a 4-0 lead heading to the bottom of the fifth, but the Mustangs rallied to tie the game with a four-run frame. Messiah quickly responded with four runs in the top of the sixth to snag the lead back.
 
The Falcons did not stop there, spreading four insurance runs across the seventh, eighth, and ninth en route to the 12-5 victory.
 
Evan Wagaman launched his 10th home run of the season, with a solo shot in the fourth. Wagaman also added an RBI double in the fourth as part of a two-hit day. Drew Hurst led the Falcons with a 3-6 effort at the plate, knocking a single, double, and triple while driving home three runs. In total, five different Falcons collected multi-hit games while Jason Long turned in another fine start on the hill. Long tossed seven innings while allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and one walk while striking out seven.
 
With the win, Messiah improves to 14-2 in the conference and 25-8 overall on the year. The Falcons and Mustangs will finish off their three-game series on Saturday in Grantham, beginning at 12:00 p.m.
 
How It Happened
The Falcons got on the board in the top of the third with an RBI triple from Isaiah Parido that chased David Martinez home after he walked to lead off the frame. Evan Wagaman led off the fourth with a solo home run to centerfield, his 10th home run of the season. Wagaman is now just one home run shy of the single season Messiah record for long-balls in a year, a record that was set by Sam Zercher last season.
 
An RBI single from Joshua Ammons in the fifth made it a 3-0 Messiah lead and the very next batter, Wagaman drove home a fourth run with a double.
 
Stevenson climbed all the way back with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the frame, tying the game at 4-4 after five innings.
 
Messiah responded swiftly with four runs in the sixth inning on just two hits. Drew Hurst highlighted the frame by ripping a two-run triple to center field as Messiah took an 8-4 lead.
 
Jason Long hung a zero on the board in the bottom of the sixth and Messiah added an insurance run on a Nick Moyer sacrifice fly in the seventh.
 
After a sacrifice fly for the Mustangs in the seventh, Messiah took a 9-5 lead heading to the eighth. Dylan Beard knocked an RBI triple to left center and scored on a wild pitch to bump Messiah's lead to 11-5. A Drew Hurst double in the ninth brought home Isaiah Parido for the Falcons' 12 run of the afternoon. Parido had reached earlier in the frame on his third hit-by-pitch of the game.
 
After Jason Long's seven innings on the bump, Jadyn Martin and Julian Butler each tossed a scoreless inning to close out the victory. Long earned his seventh victory of the season, improving to 7-1 on the year.
 
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah improves to 14-2 in the conference and locks up a top-two seed in the MAC Commonwealth Tournament that begins in two weeks. The Falcons and Mustangs will conclude their three-game series on Saturday when they head to Grantham for a doubleheader beginning at noon.