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Grantham, PA - Coming off of a fresh sweep of the Blue Jays in last weekend's regular season finale, Messiah continued its dominance over their school rival with a 6-2 win in the first round of the Commonwealth Conference championships. Pitcher Sara Dietrich pitched out of multiple early inning jams and freshman
Mallory Rutledge pitched in the final three innings to help propel the Falcons into the winner's bracket of the double elimination tournament.
The #1 Falcons (34-6) took advantage of two Blue Jay errors and strung together two hits in the first inning to take the early 2-0 lead. Sophomore
Sarah Seneca - who went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs - started things off with a single and quickly advanced to second for her 34th stolen base of the season. Another single from freshman
Nicole Blantz moved S. Seneca to third, but it was senior
Ashley Lehman's at-bat that allowed the Falcons to break through. Lehman layed down a perfect sacrifice bunt, but the Dutchmen catcher threw the ball into right field, allowing both S. Seneca and Blantz to score.
#4 Elizabethtown (23-18) responded in the next inning with two doubles and a single to bring in one run.
The Falcons added three combined runs on five hits between the third and fourth innings bringing their lead to four.
S. Seneca led Messiah once again with a single and a stolen base in the third inning with Blantz following with a single of her own. In the next at-bat, Lehman hit the ball to the third baseman who immediately turned around and threw to the short stop who was covering third to get the lead runner. After a pop-up gave Messiah their second out, junior
Stephanie Schell (1-for-3, 2 RBI) ripped a shot to center field for a base-clearing double.
In the fourth, sophomore
Amanda Fife started things off with a single to right field, but her efforts were erased when pinch-runner sophomore
Krista Ammon was picked off at first in a delayed steal attempt. A defensive error opened the door yet again for the Falcons, when senior
Abi Buchler made her way to first after hitting the ball hard to Lebanon Valley's short stop. The error ended up costing the Dutchmen when S. Seneca doubled to center field to drive in the unearned run.
In the top of the fifth, freshman
Mallory Rutledge entered the game after the Dutchmen plated their second and final run of the game. Facing only two batters, Rutledge intentionally walked the first and forced a line-drive out to end the inning.
"This was a nice win for us," head coach
Amy Weaver said. "Getting eleven hits in this game was a big deal. It was also great to use both of our pitchers. Sara [Dietrich] had another great game, but we wanted to preserve her. Mallory [Rutledge] came in a finished things for us. Now we need to take that momentum into our next game."
Messiah will move forward through the winner's bracket to face #3 Alvernia University, the 12-1 game two winner over Lebanon Valley College, at 3:00 p.m. on Starry Field.
