ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – After a three-game sweep of the Hood Blazers on Friday and Saturday, the Messiah baseball team had one more conference game to play on Sunday before calling it quits on a long weekend. In a make-up of a game that was initially scheduled to be played on Mar. 28, the Falcons fell behind 6-0 against the Eastern Eagles, but battled back to defeat Eastern by a 10-7 final score.
The Eagles jumped on top, scoring three runs in both the first and second innings to take a 6-0 lead. After the Falcons got on the board with a two-run
Isaiah Parido home run in the third, Eastern got a run back to take a 7-2 lead. Messiah scored the final eight runs of the game to complete the three-game series sweep that was spread across two weekends.
With the victory, Messiah improves to 11-1 in the MAC Commonwealth and currently holds the top spot in the conference by two games over the Alvernia Golden Wolves (9-3). The Falcons will play Wilson College in non-conference action on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. in Chambersburg, Pa.
How It Happened
The Eagles jumped all over the Falcons with three runs crossing the plate after just four batters in the bottom of the first. The big blow of the inning was a two-run homer off the bat of Luke Meehan. Another two-run homer highlighted the second inning as Thomas Kozlusky made it a 6-0 game with his second home run of the year.
Messiah countered with their first runs of the afternoon on an
Isaiah Parido home run to centerfield in the top of the third. Parido's fourth homer of the season brought
Ryan Friend home after Friend singled earlier in the inning.
Eastern responded by scoring their seventh run of the afternoon in the bottom of the third on an infield single to take a 7-2 lead.
With two on and two out in the top of the fourth,
David Martinez reached first on an error by the shortstop that allowed two runs to score while also extending the inning.
Ryan Friend then singled to short stop allowing Martinez to score and bring the Falcons within two runs at 7-5 heading into the bottom of the fourth.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Jayden Martin stepped to the mound and changed the complexion of the game. The Eagles had scored seven runs on six hits in the first three frames, but after Martin toed the rubber to begin the fourth inning, Eastern was held scoreless for the final six frames. Martin allowed just two hits while striking out seven and walking one in the longest outing of his career. For his efforts, Martin earned the victory after the Falcons completed the comeback.
For Martin to earn the win, Messiah needed to drum up a little offense. After threatening the fifth, but leaving two men in scoring position, Messiah put three runs on the board with
Isaiah Parido's second homer of the afternoon. After a bunt single from
Dylan Beard and
David Martinez reaching on another error, Parido stepped to the plate with two outs and launched a three-run homer to centerfield to put the Falcons in front 8-7.
Messiah added insurance runs by playing some small ball in the seventh and ninth, bumping their lead to 10-7. While things got a little dicey in the bottom of the ninth with a pair of Messiah errors and a hit-by-pitch loading the bases for the Eagles, Martin capped off his day with a swinging strikeout to close the book on the Eagles and give Messiah the 10-7 victory.
What's Up Next
With the victory, Messiah moves to 21-6 on the season and will be back in action on Tuesday when they travel to Wilson College to take on the Phoenix at 3:30 p.m. In their next conference series, the Falcons will take on the York Spartans (16-7 overall, 8-4 conference) with York hosting the single game on Friday and the Falcons hosting the twin-bill on Saturday beginning at noon.
