Game One Box
Game Two Box

It was a tale of two different teams on Tuesday afternoon as the Albright College baseball team split a doubleheader with the visiting Falcons of Messiah College, with Albright claiming victory in game one, 2-1, and Messiah winning the second, 10-2.

Runs were hard to come by in the first game for both Albright and Messiah.

The Falcons opened the scoring in the top of the third inning after Albright pitcher Kevin O'Neill retired the first two hitters he faced, but then issued a walk to Messiah second baseman Zach Brubaker. Brubaker would then score on Jacob Sprengle's double to left center field to give Messiah an early 1-0 lead. 

O'Neill and Falcons starter Steven Ridings would trade zeroes for the next two innings until Albright got on the board in the fifth inning as Evan High took a Ridings pitch deep to left field for a home run.

An inning later, a perfectly executed hit and run by Nate Peiffer and Collin Hecker would prove to be the difference for the Lions.

After a Peiffer walk, he took off for second base which gave Hecker the perfect opportunity to push the ball into right field and allow Peiffer to advance to third. A groundout from catcher Dylan Boll brought Peiffer home and gave the Lions the victory.

O'Neill benefited from perfect defense behind him as the Lions did not commit an error in the first game. He went the distance, striking out three, while scattering six hits and giving up only one run for his first win of the season.

Much like the weather, the Albright defense went cold in the second game, committing nine errors.

The Lions committed errors in the first, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, all leading to Messiah runs.

After Messiah scored in the top of the first inning, the Lions answered right back with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. A double by Boll, who was the designated hitter in the second game, scored Peiffer as he walked earlier in the inning.

Albright would have to wait until the final inning, and nine Messiah runs later, to score their second run of the game.

Messiah was able to record the first out of the last inning, but a Zachary Keibler triple and a sacrifice fly from pinch-hitter Zac Okonski gave the Lions their final run of the afternoon.

With the split, Albright finds its record at 10-9 and 2-6 in the Commonwealth. The Lions will welcome Arcadia to Kelchner Field for the first game of a three game set. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.