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Falcons Bury Greenville In 17-3, 8-3 Decisions
Junior Ben Kirk went a combined 4-6 from the plate, scoring four runs and pounding three RBI.

Winter Park, FL — As the Messiah College baseball team awoke Monday morning to play its first games since a 13-6 and 9-5 sweep of previously unbeaten Wheaton College (IL) on Saturday, it was soon apparent that the squad was just warming up.

Messiah (8-6) registered a total 34 hits Monday to push across an incredible 25 runs, blasting Greenville College (IL) by 17-3 and 8-3 scores in yet another offensive explosion.

The Falcons recorded 10 extra-base hits on the day, making Saturday’s 19-hit afternoon look tame in comparison.

In the process, the team upped its record to 4-1 in the state of Florida, as four more games remain on the slate before the Falcons return home from its spring-break trip Friday night.

“If I could tell you exactly why we’re starting to hit the ball so well, we’d have no losses this year,” chuckled first-year head coach Bryan Engle following Monday’s results. “I really think it’s a combination of things, though. In the warm weather down here, our guys are starting to get comfortable. Hitting is also contagious, so now we’ve got guys who are trying to step up just to match what the guy next to him is doing. We’re also getting some breaks that we didn’t get earlier in the year. We’re scoring in bunches. It’s fun to play like this.”

Possible blasphemy from a former pitcher, Engle said he has no problems guiding a team with such offensive firepower. Messiah gave up the initial run to Greenville (2-4) in the day’s first contest, but responded with an all out blitz, scoring a minimum of two runs per inning in the game’s final five stanzas. The Falcons’ biggest burst came in the fifth inning, where eight hits led to a season-high seven runs scored. A two-RBI triple from junior Ben Kirk began the onslaught, while a double from senior Craig Mease sandwiched a pair of RBI singles.

At that point, Mease had already homered in the fourth inning, while sophomore Jon-Mike Richards blasted his first collegiate dinger in the second inning, sending a two-RBI laser over the left field fence.

Junior Jonny Ebersole got in the act in the seventh inning, pushing across freshman Jordan Wenger and sophomore Alex Lentz with a three-run shot down the right field line, his first career homer as well.

On the game, the offensive heroes were almost too numerous to list, as every starter registered a hit while eight players carded RBI — five of which brought home two or more. Engle emptied his bench following the defensive half of the sixth inning, allowing players like Ebersole to join in the hit-fest.

Mease was again the ring leader, going 3-5 with four RBI and two runs scored via a homer and a pair of doubles. Kirk finished 2-3 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI off a double and a triple, while senior Ben Jordan used two mundane singles and a double to drive in three, going 3-4 on the game.

Messiah’s battery all but overshadowed what otherwise was a brilliant performance on the mound from freshman Travis Thome (2-0), as the right-hander pitched six full innings, striking out seven Panther batters while walking none. He gave up just one earned run out of the team’s three scores, allowing just eight hits.

“Defensively, I didn’t think we played quite as crisp or as sharp as I would have liked, but when you’ve got 17 runs, it hides some things,” Engle said.

Looking to register its second straight sweep in the Sunshine state, Messiah began the second game almost in identical fashion to the first, allowing a single Greenville run before piling it on. A five-run third inning provided the damage in the afternoon cap, as yet another triple from Mease carded three of those scores. Singles from Kirk and sophomore Jordan Zimmerman finalized the stanza’s scoring, while a fifth-inning walk issued to Mease brought home another run.

Seemingly insignificant at the time, Mease’s base on balls tied him for the career record in that category, earning him his 77th walk of his career. On the day, Mease rattled off his fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh extra-base hit in the last three games, all while hitting his third homerun in a span of just six at-bats. His line was equally as staggering, going 5-9 on the day with seven RBI.

“It’s kind of funny, but we get 34 hits on the day and afterward we’re talking about a walk,” Engle said of Mease’s ownership of the school record. “But what can you say about the kid right now? He’s absolutely raking the ball.”

Kirk wasn’t far behind, going 2-3 in the second game with an RBI of his own, pushing his total line on the day to 4-6 with four runs scored and three RBI. Jordan, sophomore Adam Ranck and classmate Sheldon Witmer all drove in a second-game run as well, while senior Kyle Stuckey (1-0) got the pitching win in his first outing of the season. Stuckey tossed a complete game, striking out six batters while walking just one. Only one of Greenville’s three runs were earned.

All but one starter recorded a base hit in Monday’s finale for Messiah.

“Stuckey did a good job on the mound for us, changing speeds and keeping the ball down,” Engle said. “If we continue to swing the sticks like this, we’ll win a lot of games. I’ve always thought you’ve got to have two out of the big three to win games, either in hitting, pitching or defense. Today we had two out of the three. We still need to get better defensively, but we will. There’s a lot of baseball yet to be played.”

The Falcons will waste no time returning to the field again, as Messiah will take on Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in a single, nine-inning game Tuesday. Game time is set for 11 a.m.