NEWPORT NEWS, Va. – On Saturday morning, the Messiah University baseball team fell in a tight battle against the eleventh-ranked Captains of Christopher Newport, 8-7. The Captains opened the scoring with a two-run first inning. The Falcons pulled within one with a run in the top of the third, but the Captains added on three runs in bottom half to take a 5-1 lead. The Falcons battled back with a run in the fifth and three runs in the sixth to tie the game at five. The Captains scored two in the bottom of the sixth to retake a two-run lead, but the Falcons scored two runs in the top of the seventh. The Captains scored the final run in the bottom of seventh to earn the 8-7 win. David Martinez finished with a hit and two RBIs. Dylan Beard, Dustin Isanogle, and Nick Moyer each tallied a hit and an RBI.
 
Up next, the Falcons travel to Ashland, Va. for a three-game series against the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College starting on Friday, Feb. 21 at 3:00 p.m.

No. 11 CNU 8, Messiah 7
The Falcons opened the game with a lead off walk from Isaiah Parido. Parido stole second, but after the Falcons lined into a double play to end the Falcons threat. The Captains got on the board early with two runs in the bottom of the first to take an early 2-0 lead.
 
After a scoreless second inning, the Falcons looked to get on the board in the top of the third. Jarrett Gordon led off the third with a hit by pitch and then stole second. After a strikeout and a ground out, Gordon advanced to third and then scored a wild pitch to reduce the Captains lead to one. The Captains though answered back with a three-run bottom of the third inning to take a 5-1 lead.
 
After a scoreless fourth, the Falcons looked to battle back into the game in the top of the fifth. Dylan Beard led off the inning with a walk, followed by a Dustin Isanogle single to put runners on first and second with no outs. After a sac bunt advanced the runners to second and third and a ground out, Nick Moyer hit an RBI infield single to reduce the Captains lead to 5-2.
 
After another scoreless inning from Drew Dellinger and Luke Ott, the Falcons went back to the plate looking to tie the game. Drew Hurst led the inning off with a walk and after a strikeout Evan Wagaman reached on a hit by pitch to put runners on first and second with one out. The two runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch, and Dylan Beard worked a walk to load the bases. Dustin Isanogle then got hit by a pitch to reduce the Captains lead to two. After a strikeout, David Martinez hit a clutch two-RBI single to tie the game at five. The Captains, however answered back in the bottom of the sixth with two runs to retake a 7-5 lead.
 
The Falcons though would not let the Captains hold onto the lead for long in the top of the seventh. Drew Hurst once again drew a lead off walk. After a Matt Luchovick walk, and then a strikeout, Dylan Beard hit an RBI single to reduce the Falcons deficit to one. Dustin Isanogle worked another walk and then Jarrett Gordon hit an RBI ground out to tie the game at 7. The Captains though answered again with a run in the bottom of the seventh to retake the lead at 8-7.
 
The Falcons had runners on base in both the eighth and the ninth but could not bring in the tying run and the Captains earned the 8-7 win.
 
Stats
David Martinez finished with a hit and two RBIs. Dylan Beard, Dustin Isanogle, and Nick Moyer each tallied a hit and an RBI. Drew Hurst and Beard each scored two runs. Jarrett Gordon added an RBI and run scored. Zachary Harris started in his first career game in a Falcons uniform throwing three innings, with five runs allowed (three earned), three hits allowed, and three strikeouts. Drew Dellinger pitched a shutout inning out of the pen with a hit allowed.
 
Next
The Falcons travel to Ashland, Va. for a three-game series against the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College starting on Friday, Feb. 21 at 3:00 p.m.