HARRISONBURG, Va. – On Tuesday afternoon, the Messiah University baseball team fell in a back-and-forth offensive slugfest, 13-12 to the Royals of Eastern Mennonite University. The Falcons jumped to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the first, led by home runs from
Isaiah Parido and
Jarrett Gordon. The Falcons added a run in the top of the second and the third to jump to a 6-0 lead. The Royals offense woke up scoring two in the bottom of the third and four in the fourth to tie the game at six headed into the fifth. Both teams scored a run in the fifth, but then the Falcons scored five in the top of the sixth to take a 12-7 lead. The Royals though, answered back with four runs in the bottom of the sixth to reduce the Falcons lead to one. The Royals scored the final runs of the game in the bottom of the seventh and shut down the Falcons offense in the final two innings to earn the 13-12 win.
Dylan Beard led the Falcons with two home runs and three RBIs.
Isaiah Parido,
Jarrett Gordon, and
Nick Moyer each added a home run.
Up next, the Falcons host the Golden Wolves of Alvernia University for the MAC Commonwealth opener on Friday, March 14. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
EMU 13, Messiah 12
The Falcons looked to get off to a strong start in the top of the first.
Isaiah Parido led off the game with a solo home run to left center to get the Falcons on the board. After a
Dustin Isanogle walk and then a strikeout,
Evan Wagaman drove Isanogle home with an RBI double. After Wagaman stole third and another strikeout,
Jarrett Gordon belted a two-run home run to left to give the Falcons the 4-0 lead.
Luke Ott doubled and
Matt Luchovick walked, but the Falcons could not add any more runs in the inning.
The Falcons looked to add to their lead in the second.
Isaiah Parido led of the inning with another extra-base hit, this time a double. After a strikeout,
Drew Hurst brought home Parido with an RBI double to extend the Falcons lead to 5-0.
After
Sawyer Shepherd threw another scoreless inning in the bottom of the second, the Falcons added another run in the top of the third. The run came on one swing of the bat from
Nick Moyer, who hit a solo home run to left to push the Falcons lead to 6-0.
The Royals though added two runs in the bottom of the third to reduce the Falcons lead to four. After the Royals threw a scoreless top of the fourth, they tied the game with four runs in the bottom of the fourth.
The Falcons answered back in the top of the fifth with a solo home run from
Dylan Beard to give the Falcons back the lead. The Royals kept the offensive battle going with a run in the bottom half to tie the game at seven.
The Falcons looked to take back the lead in the top of the sixth.
Isaiah Parido led off the inning with a walk and then stole second. After a
Dustin Isanogle walk,
Drew Hurst hit an RBI single to left and then
Dustin Isanogle scored on a throwing error.
Drew Hurst then stole third and
Evan Wagaman hit an RBI infield single to push the Falcons lead to three. Wagaman stole second and third, but it did not matter as
Dylan Beard hit his second home run of the day to give the Falcons a 12-7 lead.
The Royals would not go away and scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to reduce the Falcons lead to one.
The Royals scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to take a 13-12 lead. The Falcons did not score any runs in the final two innings and the Royals earned the one run win.
Stats
Dylan Beard led the Falcons offense with two home runs, three RBIs, and two runs.
Isaiah Parido,
Drew Hurst,
Evan Wagaman,
Jarrett Gordon, and
Luke Ott each added two hits. Parido, Gordon, and
Nick Moyer each added home runs. Along with his two hits, Wagaman added three stolen bases.
Sawyer Shepherd earned the start, going three innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits, two walks, and a strikeout.
Noah Barrall pitched 1.1 scoreless innings out of the pen with three strikeouts.
Next
The Falcons host the Golden Wolves of Alvernia University for the MAC Commonwealth opener on Friday, March 14. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
