GRANTHAM, Pa. - Messiah rallied from a five-run deficit with walk-off win in game one before breaking open a scoreless game with four runs in its last at-bat in game two as the Falcons swept a Commonwealth Conference doubleheader from the Stevenson baseball team Saturday at Starry Field.
As a result, the Mustangs (15-16-2, 11-7 MAC) find themselves tied for third place in the Commonwealth Conference with Arcadia and just one game in front of Messiah.
The top four teams advance to the 2015 Commonwealth Conference Baseball Championship at Santander Stadium on Thursday, April 30. Alvernia has all but secured the top-seed while Widener, Arcadia, Stevenson and Messiah look for the final three spots.
The Mustangs, who have three league games remaining against Albright, won two out of three against both Widener and Arcadia, but lost two out of three to Messiah.
On Saturday, Stevenson scored five runs in the top of the first of game one, scoring all five runs with two outs. After a walk by senior Troy Miller, junior Craig Joseph hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot to right center to give the Mustangs an early 2-0 lead.
Three-straight singles loaded the bases before a three-run double by junior Kevin Wu increased the lead to 5-0.
The Falcons (14-14, 10-8 MAC) began their comeback with one run in both the second and third before Derek Drake drove in two unearned runs with a double to center in the fourth to pull Messiah within one.
An RBI-triple by Joseph and RBI-double by junior Nick Peifer in the fifth pushed Stevenson back in front by three, 7-4.
However, a two-run homer by Jon Heisey in the fifth and a two-run triple in the sixth gave the Falcons their first lead at 8-7 before Jon Mullin increased it to two with an RBI-single that scored Heisey.
Heisey finished the opener 3-for-4 with four RBIs and three runs scored, finishing just a single shy of the cycle.
A two-run homer by Miller in the top of the seventh tied the game at 9-9, but after drawing a lead-off walk and stealing second, Zach Brubaker advanced to third on a ground out before scoring on a single by Drake for the game-winning run with one out in the bottom of the inning.
Joseph finished game one 2-for-3 with a triple, home run and three RBIs while Peifer was also 2-for-3 with a double and one RBI.
Junior Alec Romanowski earned his third no decision in eight starts this season, allowing six runs on nine hits while walking three over 4.2 innings. Junior Reid Foxwell suffered his first loss in 15 appearances this year.
Game two began as a pitcher's duel as junior Matt Myers and David Nicolias combined for no runs and just eight hits through the first five innings. However, it wasn't without some quality chances, particularly for Messiah who loaded the bases with just one out in the second.
In the fourth and fifth innings, Stevenson had runners on first and second with one out, but couldn't take advantage, leaving four runners on base.
After Nicolias retired the Mustangs in order in the sixth, the Falcons got the only run it would need on a lead-off home run by Joseph Saufley in the bottom of the inning before adding three more, including two on two-run double by Steven Nicolias.
Stevenson went down in order in the top of the seventh as Messiah picked up its first shutout of the season and first since Mar. 31, 2014.
David Nicolias scattered five hits over 7.0 innings to earn his third win of the season and help the Falcons improve their record to 10-2 at home this season.
Wu and Miller each went 1-for-3 for the Mustangs while Myers suffered his first loss of the season despite allowing just one run on four hits over 5.0 innings.
Stevenson hosts a non-conference contest versus Penn State Harrisburg at Park Field on Wednesday, April 22 beginning at 4:00 p.m.
