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Messiah Takes Two From Franklin & Marshall, Overcomes Oddity
Junior Amy Bowie knocked her second home run of the season against F & M in game two action.

Grantham, PA — The next time the Messiah College softball team is fortunate enough to load the bases, head coach Amy Weaver would be well served to call for a bunt.

After all, grand slams aren’t working out so well.

Messiah (9-10) handed Franklin & Marshall College a pair of defeats Tuesday afternoon at the Messiah College Softball Complex, despite watching the team’s second grand slam of the season go up in smoke: Freshman Rebekkah Funk blasted her first collegiate home run in the second inning of the day’s first game, only to be called out after allegedly passing senior Lana Trotter on the base path.

While Funk’s blast officially went down as a three-RBI single, the oddity had little effect on the day’s outcome, as Messiah handed the Diplomats a 10-2, five-inning loss in Tuesday’s first game while picking up a 4-1 decision in the second.

Afterward, however, all that most wanted to talk about was Funk’s grand slam, er, single.

“It was a very strange sequence of events, and one that our staff felt the umpires got wrong,” Weaver said. “Bekkah got close to (Lana), but she never touched her or passed her. To lose your first collegiate home run that way is awfully tough.”

Funk’s grand slam was the second royal flush to be discredited for the Falcons this season, as a similar home run from sophomore Nicole Adams in Messiah’s second game against Mary Baldwin College on Mar. 7 was also erased from the record books.

Rain forced that tilt to be cancelled before enough innings occurred to be considered a complete game.

Funk’s no-out crush on Tuesday was different altogether.

Following a double from sophomore Lindsay Hall to lead off the bottom of the second inning, freshman Jessica Climenhaga singled. A pair of walks followed, and Messiah had plated the first of an eventual seven runs in the stanza.

Funk followed Trotter’s walk with an absolute blast to right center field, as the first-year shortstop watched the ball sail over the outfield fence while rounding first.

According to Weaver, she then looked up and saw Trotter and applied the breaks. It wasn’t in time according to the umpire, however.

“It was just bizarre,” Weaver said. “We still don’t think there was anything illegal about it, but what can you do?”

What Messiah did was continue to pour on the offensive battery in that inning, as a two-out triple from sophomore Lindsay Hall drove in another three runs just minutes later.

The seven-run second inning was more than enough to offset an initial two runs scored by the Diplomats in the contest, as junior Jenna Batchelor (3-1) picked up her third win of the season in the pitcher’s circle.

Weaver’s team ended the game early via the eight-run rule following a third-inning home run from Trotter — a dinger that actually stood up in the scorebooks. Adams followed with an RBI double three batters later, and Messiah possessed its 10-2 advantage.

Batchelor then scattered three hits over the last two innings of work to hang on to the truncated win, going the distance while allowing just six total hits and striking out two.

Despite the second-inning oddity, Funk finished 2-3 with three RBI while Hall finished 3-3 with three runs batted in as well. Trotter scored three runs while driving in a pair off her homer. Adams finished 2-2 with two RBI.

In the day’s second contest, Messiah used solid pitching from freshman Jessica Climenhaga (2-3) to pick up the 4-1 win, as the right hander struck out eight Diplomats batters while walking just three.

Messiah collected two of its runs off yet another home run in the sixth inning, as Bowie brought both herself and Funk across the plate, who doubled immediately prior. Weaver’s team added single scores in the third and fifth innings, with two singles from Hall driving in both runs.

Freshman Corinn Eby (1) then took over in the seventh inning in the pitching circle to record her first collegiate save, calmly forcing a pair of flyouts after two Franklin & Marshall batters reached base via walk.

Bowie paced the offense in going 2-4 with two RBI and two runs scored courtesy of her second home run of the season. Hall again went 3-3 with two RBI. Adams finished 2-4 at the plate, while Funk went 1-2 with a run scored via her double.

“We played very well today and we brought out the bats,” Weaver said. “The girls were really on fire at the plate, and we played solidly all day on defense in not making a single error. Overall, everyone came out ready to play today and played hard all the way through both games. I was very pleased with our performance.”

Messiah will now take just a day off before returning home, as the team will host neighboring Dickinson College Thursday. Game time is set for 3:30 p.m.