HAWAII – On Monday evening, the Messiah softball team took game one 12-5 from the Rangers, following a dominant second and sixth innings.
Brielle Rosario led the way going 3-4 at the plate with two triples.
Fallon Feaser was impressive at the plate as well going two for four, along with pitching a complete game striking out three batters. In game two, despite strong pitching from
Maggie Chinnadurai, the Falcons surrendered a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the seventh to drop game two 3-2.
Up Next
The Falcons will look to bounce back against Oneonta tomorrow at 4:00 and 6:00 PM EST.
Game One – Messiah 12 Drew 5
How It Happened:
The Falcons were able to limit the damage in the top of the first as the Rangers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead. However, the Falcons responded with
Hannah Dyer reaching base off a hit by pitch, setting her up to steal both second and third. Despite a quick out,
Fallon Feaser came through with a hard grounder to third to score Dyer and tie the game up at one a piece.
After a quick top half of the inning from Feaser in the circle, the Falcons put together a strong second inning.
Brielle Rosario would start things off with a single to left, followed by both
Ali Wagner and
Jaden Keister reaching on walks to load the bases. Despite Rosario getting thrown out at home off a hit to short, the bases were still loaded with Dyer at the plate. Dyer's speed took advantage of a fielding error, scoring Wagner and keeping the bases loaded for
Lucy Murphy. Murphy would end up also reaching on a throwing error scoring both Keister and
Haylie Fenstermaker, while advancing Dyer to third and herself to second. Now leading 4-1, Feaser would come through once again with a single through the left side giving Messiah the 5-1 lead.
Following another quick inning from Feaser, the Falcons once again found success from the bottom of their lineup. Rosario continued her strong outing with a triple to get things rolling. This time Wagner would pop a nice single into left to expand the Falcons lead to 6-1. After advancing all the way to third off a couple Ranger errors, Fenstermaker would bring her home with a groundout to second giving Messiah the 7-1 lead.
Both teams stranded runners on in the fourth, but neither could bring them home as the Falcons still led 7-1 heading into the fifth inning. However, the Rangers offense woke up with the first three batters reaching base. This would set up four straight runs to come through following a combination of walks and fly outs, cutting the Falcons lead to 7-5. Feaser managed to work through the mess getting out of the inning holding on to a lead. Messiah would respond to the strong inning with Keister reaching on a single, setting up pitch runner
Kylie Thompson to steal her way around the bases, putting herself in scoring position at third. Those steals would pay off as a throwing error from the catcher allowed her to make her way home giving Messiah the 8-5 advantage.
Despite a scare in the sixth, the Falcons got out of the inning stranding a runner on second. After back-to-back singles from Feaser and
Kandice Schlabach, Rosario put a stamp to her strong game one with another triple to left scoring both runners giving Messiah the 10-5 lead. After a series of walks with the bases loaded, Dyer would draw another walk pushing through one more run.
Lucy Murphy would cap off the inning with a single up the middle scoring Keister giving Messiah the 12-5 lead and the win.
Stats:
Fallon Feaser pitched a complete game, striking out three batters, allowing four earned runs. Feaser at the plate would go 2-4 with one RBI.
Brielle Rosario was the catalyst in the win, going 3-4 with two RBI and two triples.
Ali Wagner,
Lucy Murphy, Kandace Schlabach,
Allie Book, and
Jaden Keister all managed hits in the win.
Game Two – Drew 3 Messiah 2
How It Happened:
Both teams' pitchers settled in quick through the first two innings.
Maggie Chinnadurai struck out two and forced four groundouts through two, heading into the top of the third still scoreless.
However, the top of the third was good to the Falcons.
Hannah Dyer got things going with a single, followed by another stolen base to put her on second.
Lucy Murphy punched a single into left advancing Dyer to third but got caught going to second. Dyer sitting on third,
Fallon Feaser took advantage if a fielding error to reach first scoring Dyer giving the Falcons the early 1-0 lead. Kandace Schlabach capped off the inning with a triple to score Feaser giving Messiah the 2-0 advantage.
After another quick inning from Chinnadurai, the Falcons looked to expand their lead in the top of the fourth. However, the Rangers had other ideas and forced a 1-2-3 inning from Messiah setting up a pivotal bottom half of the fourth. Despite surrendering an early double and a walk, Chinnadurai forced a pop up and a strikeout to end the inning, holding on to the 2-0 lead.
Despite Murphy reaching base with a single, the inning was shortly ended after. Chinnadurai allowed the first two batters on but settled in to get the last three out entering the sixth inning. The Falcons were unable to make any noise in the top of the sixth despite
Allie Book reaching on an error. However, strong pitching allowed Messiah to enter the final inning still holding a lead.
Following a 1-2-3 inning from the Falcons, Chinnadurai was looking to close out the game. However, with the first two batters reaching base, the Rangers were in business. Following back-to-back singles to tie the game up, with two outs, a walk off single closed out the game handing the Falcons the 3-2 loss.
Stats:
Lucy Murphy and Kandace Schlabach were the bright spots for the Falcons individually going 2-3 from the plate.
Hannah Dyer would grab the other hit for Messiah.
Maggie Chinnadurai pitched well for the Falcons in her second start going seven innings, striking out six batters.
What's Up Next:
The Falcons will take on Oneonta in a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at 4:00 PM EST.
