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Falcons Keep Cruising; Bury Mary Baldwin By 13-0, 12-0 Scores
Senior Amy Bowie led Messiah's blazing offense Saturday, belting a grand slam in Game One against Mary Baldwin.

Staunton, VA — And so it continues.

The Messiah softball team kept its opposition scoreless on the season Saturday, winning a pair of score-truncated games at Mary Baldwin College by 13-0 and 12-0 counts.

Freshman Jessica Rhoads and junior Tori Hatt combined for a no-hitter in the day’s finale, while the Falcons posted eight extra-base hits on the day, driving in each of their 25 total runs.

On the season, Messiah (6-0) has now outscored its opponents by a cumulative score of 58-0.

“We are playing well right now,” said Amy Weaver, Messiah head coach. “Our pitchers once again did excellent, and we’ve continued to hit the ball.”

Making plenty of contact at the plate was not an issue for Weaver’s club at any point Saturday, as Messiah registered 15 knocks in Game One and 11 in Game Two — limiting the host Squirrels to just a pair of hits, both coming in the day’s first contest.

After failing to plate a run in the team’s first at-bat of the day, Messiah erupted for seven scores in the top of the second inning, all coming with two outs retired. A single from freshman Abi Buchler drove in two, while a double from freshman Jaclyn Merkel plated another pair. A single from senior Amy Bowie drove in Merkel, while a home run from freshman Lauren Seneca brought Bowie in, finishing the monster stanza.

Sophomore pitcher Corinn Eby got out of a minor jam in the bottom of the second inning, forcing a groundout and a pair of strikeouts after a Squireels’ double and walk put runners at second and third.

With that situation taken care of, it was Messiah’s bats that would provide separation once more, as a two-out grand slam from Bowie would make it an 11-0 ballgame in the top of the third.

With Eby now in full control her stuff — she finished with 10 strikeouts and just a pair of walks — Mary Baldwin (0-2) would not get close, as Messiah tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the fifth.

Bowie paced Messiah’s offense with an incredible 3-5 performance, driving in five runs and scoring three herself. Seneca and junior Lindsay Hall each finished with three hits on the day, while Buchler and freshman Ashley Lehman each finished with two.

Seneca drove in three runs while Merkel and Buchler each plated two. Eby (1-0) captured a win in her first pitching appearance of the season, going the distance.

It was more of the same in the day’s second contest, as a pair of explosive at-bats and another dominating pitching performance led to the 12-0 victory. Rhoads and Hatt split the pitching duties, combining to strike out eight while walking just one. Messiah’s offense again came alive in the second and third innings, as the team accounted for 10 of its 11 hits in the two half-innings.

Doubles from junior Nicole Adams, Rhoads and Buchler highlighted a six-run second, while a two-RBI single from Lehman and another two-RBI double from Merkel spurned the Falcons’ six-run third.

Lehman (2-3), Adams (2-2), sophomore Rebecca Stackhouse (2-2) and Buchler (1-3) all drove in two runs apiece, while Rhoads (3-0) finished with seven strikeouts in the pitching circle — being part of her second no-hitter in just three outings.

“It was a very good day for us,” Weaver said. “Amy’s grand slam in the first game was really exciting, and we got to play everyone that dressed.”

Messiah will look to keep its strong start in tact when it opens up MAC Commonwealth play at Arcadia University Tuesday afternoon. The Knights enter that double-header with an unblemished 4-0 record. Game time for the first of two is set for 3 p.m.