GRANTHAM, PA. – On Thursday afternoon, the Messiah women's softball team dropped a tightly contested game one 6-4. The Falcons trailed 3-2 for most of the game, but a four run seventh inning allowed the Cardinals enough cushion to hold off the Falcons. Haylie Fenstermaker's triple to right center scored one, followed by a Hannah Dyer ground out to score another, but the comeback of game one came up just short for Messiah. In game two, Catholics big third and fourth innings were enough to hold off the Falcons. Outside of Allie Book's three hits, Messiah could not put enough batters on base to create a game, giving Catholic the 4-1 win.

Up Next:
The Falcons will host Stevenson University Saturday, Mar. 29th.
 
Game One: Catholic 6 Messiah 4
How It Happened:
Both pitchers looked settled in right away as neither squad were able to get things going in the first inning. Catholic, however, got their bats going in the top of the second. Back-to-back hits for the Cardinals allowed one run to come home. Catholic capped off the inning with one more double to score another giving them the 2-0 lead.
 
Following a quick bottom half of the second for Messiah, the Cardinals came back to the plate looking to cause more damage. After a string of singles from the middle of their lineup, Catholic would expand their lead to 3-0. The Falcons responded well to finish the third as Haylie Fenstermaker and Hannah Dyer were able to work their way on base, setting up a Lucy Murphy ground out to bring the score to 3-1.
 
After a quiet inning and half, the Falcons were able to shrink the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Following a fielder's choice from Fenstermaker, Dyers long triple to center field cut the Cardinals lead to 3-2.
 
Both teams would leave a runner on in the sixth, setting up a pivotal seventh inning. The Cardinals were able to cause damage on the bases having the first three batters reaching. Following a fly out and a single, Catholic was able to score four more runs to give them the 6-2 lead.
 
Despite the four runs, Messiah was able to get out the top half of the inning with a hitter's chance. Brielle Rosario led things off with a blooping single into left field. After a long fly out to left from Asia Harding, Fenstermaker provided a deep triple to score one. Dyer would ground out to short, but Fenstermaker came home to bring the deficit to 6-4. The inning however would end their as Catholic captured game one of the Thursday doubleheader.
 
Stats:
Hannah Dyer, Allie Book, and Haylie Fenstermaker all tallied two hits for Messiah. Brielle Rosario had the lone other hit. Fallon Feaser pitched four innings striking out two, while Kelli Durbin struck out two in two innings. 

Game Two:
Catholic 4 Messiah 1
 
How It Happened:
After two dominant innings from Maggie Chinnadurai, the Falcons were looking to take advantage of hits from Allie Book and Asia Harding in the bottom of the second, but the Cardinals were able to escape the inning still tied at 0-0.
 
The top of the third was not kind to the Falcons as Catholic was able to take advantage of the glaring sun to score two runs off three hits. Chinnadurai remained calm to get out of the inning, but the damage had already been done with Catholic holding the 2-0 lead. Hannah Dyer caused some trouble with a blooper into right field to reach second, but Messiah could not bring her home to enter the fourth still trailing.
 
Two solo shots from the Cardinals extended the lead for Catholic, giving them the 4-0 advantage. Despite a Book double to left field, Messiah could not add to it as Catholic maintained the shutout. Following a quick top half of the fifth, Brielle Rosario led off the bottom half of the inning with a single up the middle. However, despite the lead off single, the Falcons were unable to bring a run home.
 
Chinnadurai was able to breeze through the sixth inning, setting up a big bottom half of the inning for Messiah. Despite two straight outs for the Falcons, Book continued her hot hitting with a double to left center. Harding would do her job with a single down the third base line to give Messiah their first run of the game. Unfortunately for the Falcons, that would be the only run of the inning.
 
Following another three up three down for Chinnadurai, Messiah needed the score three or more runs to at least extend the game. Back-to-back outs for the Falcons did them no favors, but Dyer found her way on base with a hit by pitch to extend the inning one more batter. However, Murphy struck out to end the inning and the game as Catholic took two from Messiah.
 
Stats:
Allie Book finished 3-3 on the day, while Asia Harding picked up the other hit for Messiah. Maggie Chinnadurai pitched a complete game, striking out four.
 
What's Up Next:
Messiah takes on Stevenson University Saturday. Mar. 29^th beginning at 1:00p.m.