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Messiah Handles Babson, Falls To Keene State To End Spring Break
Junior Lindsay Hall had an impressive final day in the florida sun, going a composite 4-5 at the plate with three RBI.

Orlando, FL — Messiah’s week-long trip to central Florida ended on a bittersweet note Friday, as the team dropped a 2-6 decision to Keene State College at the National Training Center Softball Complex.

Just the Falcons’ second defeat of the year, Messiah (14-2) opened the day with a 5-0 pouncing of Babson College — effectively concluding the squad’s spring break journey to the Sunshine State.

Freshman phenom Jessica Rhoads ran her pitching record to 9-0 in the day-opening win over the Beavers, striking out 11 of 20 batters faced in six innings of work. She had a no-hitter going into the seventh inning, but due to a heavy workload in the day prior — Rhoads tossed a total 10.5 innings in a pair of Thursday wins — head coach Amy Weaver elected to rest her late.

Sophomore Corinn Eby came on in the final inning to allow the only hit of the day, getting a pair of groundouts and a fly out to finish off Messiah’s 14th win in 16 games.

“We didn’t hit very well overall against Babson, but we got the win,” Weaver said. “Jess continues to shut down teams. Getting her some rest was important today, though.”

Weaver was provided such luxury thanks to three runs in the first and another two in the second, as Messiah pounced on Babson (7-5) early. Five walks and a hit-by-pitch brought the first three runs across, while a single from junior Lindsay Hall drove in both scores in the second.

On the game, Messiah generated just four hits — three of which were singles — but Babson’s five issued walks and two hit batters provided the Falcons with all the offense they would need.

Junior Abby Bergakker belted a fifth-inning double, while Hall’s second-inning single and first-inning walk provided her with three RBI. Sophomore Rebekkah Funk came up with the team’s other two hits, registering singles in the first and second innings.

Friday’s second game would provide a stark contrast to the first in both style and result, as Messiah and Keene State (4-3) combined for 21 total hits in the 6-2 decision. The Owls used a big third and fourth inning to turn a 1-0 game into a 6-0 contest, while single runs from Messiah in the fourth and fifth stanzas were simply not enough.

Junior Megan Rice (4-1) suffered her first pitching defeat of the season, starting the game while allowing three runs off of six hits in three innings pitched. Eby again came on in relief, allowing three runs off of five hits in four innings of work — though just two of those runs were earned.

Messiah left a total seven base runners on in the defeat, including a bases-loaded scenario when the fifth inning concluded.

“We hit very well against Keene State, but we left too many runners on,” Weaver said. “We had bases loaded several times when our number four and five hitters left them out there. Our pitching gave up 11 hits, and we didn’t get it done.”

Hall was again impressive offensively, going 3-3 with a triple against the Owls. Freshman Jaclyn Merkel finished 2-3 with an RBI — her fifth-inning single drove in junior Tori Hatt — while freshman Aby Buchler also finished 2-3.

Messiah’s fourth-inning run came via a sacrifice fly from junior Nicole Adams.

The team will now use the final two days of spring break recess to return to campus before hitting the competitive field Tuesday, when the squad travels to Mary Washington University for a double-header. The first of two is slated to begin at 3 p.m.