Game 1 Box Score I
Game 2 Box Score -
Messiah vs. Widener Photo Gallery -
Homerun Derby Photo Gallery
Grantham, PA - The Messiah College Falcons had plenty to cheer about Saturday as they honored their seniors and Head Coach
Amy Weaver - Weaver earned her 400th victory Monday with a win over Hood College. The team celebrated with two wins over Commonwealth rival Widener University.
The Falcons (25-6, 8-0) found themselves in an unfamiliar predicament after the opening stanza of game one - trailing 2-0 for the first time against a Commonwealth Conference opponent. The Pride's (16-14, 4-6) two runs scored on two hits and a Messiah error.
Despite the early deficit, the Falcons responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Sophomore
Sarah Seneca got things going for Messiah with a lead-off walk and subsequent steal. Freshman
Nicole Blantz followed suit, drawing a walk in the next at-bat. Both runners advanced a base on a sacrifice bunt from senior
Ashley Lehman, but it was fellow senior
Jaclyn Merkel's single to center that drove in Messiah's first two runs.
Starting pitcher, sophomore Sara Dietrich, added to the offense by drilling the ball to right center for a triple, scoring Merkel for the final run of the inning.
Messiah padded their lead in the second, exploding for five hits to score two more runs.
"It was great to see the team rally after giving up those early runs," Weaver said. "It's never fun to be behind after the opening at-bats, especially at home, but we refocused and got the job done."
With the 5-2 lead, Deitrich (11-2) settled in on the mound to hold the Pride to only one hit through the rest of the game.
Led by Lehman (3 for 3, 2 RBI's) and Merkel (2 for 4, 2 RBI's), Messiah's offense added single runs in both the fifth and sixth innings en route to the 7-2 victory.
Game Two
In game two, Messiah collected a 3-2 win behind the strong pitching of freshman
Mallory Rutledge.
After a scoreless first inning, defensive errors by both teams created scoring opportunities in the second. Fortunately for the Falcons, Rutledge rose to the occasion to dispel the Pride. Messiah, however, capitalized on the mistakes to score the first run of the game.
Widener answered in the fourth when junior Shelby Mackintosh unleashed a two-run homerun that sailed over the left field fence for the 2-1 lead.
Messiah showed no signs of trepidation, though, as junior
Stephanie Schell tripled to center to ignite the Falcons' offense in the bottom of the inning. Ammon's sacrifice fly to right field scored Schell to even things up 2-2.
In the bottom of the fifth, a pinch-hit single by sophomore
Amanda Fife and aggressive base running helped the Falcons manufacture the game-winning run. With Fife on first, S. Seneca layed down a spectacular bunt that was fielded and then thrown away by the pitcher. As the Pride struggled to grab the ball along the fence, Fife motored around the bases to cross the plate and give Messiah the lead.
After facing 22 batters, a solid one-out single by the Pride in the sixth signaled the end-of-the-road for Rutledge. Dietrich returned to the circle and retired the side.
With the 3-2 lead, the Falcons were three simple outs away from the win.
But simple wasn't going to happen.
The Pride showed great patience at bat, working a lead-off walk. After a sacrifice bunt that advanced the runner, Dietrich struck out the next batter. With a runner on second and two outs, pitching coach
Alex Quigley approached the mound to discuss Messiah's next move. In a strategic play, the Falcons intentionally walked the next batter to create a force-out situation. Unfortunately, the next batter didn't hit the ball at all, but drew a walk to load the bases.
Let the nail-biting begin.
"I wasn't worried at that point," Weaver said. "Sara [Dietrich] handled that part of the line up in the first game and I was confident that she would do the same in the second game."
Weaver's confidence was spot-on as Dietrich forced a ground ball to senior short stop
Lauren Seneca, who flipped the ball to senior
Abi Buchler at second base for the final out of the game.
With the win, Rutledge moved to 7-2 on the season and Dietrich earned her second save.
The Falcons return to action on Thursday when they host yet another Commonwealth Conference doubleheader against Alvernia University. Game one will begin at 3:30 p.m.
Home Run Derby
The Falcon faithful continued celebrating Messiah's two wins with the Annual Fan and Alumni Homerun Derby. Participants of all ages competed for various prizes, but it was sophomre women's soccer player Alicia Frey and John Seneca, father of senior Lauren and sophomore
Sarah Seneca, who won the women's and men's division, respectively.
Congratulations to the winners and many thanks to everyone who participated.
