Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
READING, Pa. – With a combined 12 runs on 18 hits the visiting Falcons of Messiah College (6-11/2-0 Commonwealth) swept baseball (2-10/0-2 CC) by the final scores of 6-4 and 6-0 Saturday afternoon on Kelchner Field in the conference opener for both teams.
For the Lions they combined for seven hits in the conference twinbill, with five of those hits coming in the opener. Senior
Matt Pannella recorded his first double of the year in game one, which drove in a pair of runs for the red and white.
Nate Peiffer also recorded a pair of hits as he went 2-for-6 with a run scored. Also making contact in Saturday's games were
Pat Brady,
Collin Hecker, and
Rob Mancinelli. The Falcons offense was fueled by Sam Tajiri in game one, who went 2-for-4 with two RBI and run scored. In the nightcap it was Jacob Sprengle was red hot at the plate going 3-for-4 with one RBI and two run scored.
On the hill, junior righty
Matt Rehrig pitched a solid five innings for the Lions in the opener as he surrendered four runs on six hits, while dispatching seven Falcons.
Tyler Meckley, who was handed his first loss of the year in the opener, went 1 2/3 with two strikeouts.
Game two saw Paul Labe III make his first career start at Kelchner, after going 5 2/3, sophomore
Seth Heffner took the mound. Heffner closed out the final 1 1/3 and gave-up one run on one hit.
In the opener the Lions, jumped out to a 2-0 lead n the bottom half of the second on Pannella's two-run double. Messiah would then even the score in the top of the third. In that same frame, the Lions would regain the lead after taking advantage of a Messiah error which scored Peiffer.
The Falcons' bats came alive in the top of the sixth as they put-up four runs to jump out to a 6-3 lead. Albright would score their final run in the bottom of the same inning, giving Messiah the two-run victory.
The second game was especially tough for the Lions as, Messiah's Tory Arnesen (2-1) held them to just two hits. He would record a combined five strikeouts, while only walking two batters to earn the seven inning shutout.
Baseball returns to action on Monday when they travel to Grantham to face the Falcons in the series finale. Game time is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
