Boxscore

(Grantham, Pa.) – The Dickinson College baseball team jumped out to an early lead on neighboring Messiah College,

The Red Devils took a 4-0 lead at the end of three innings, scoring lone runs in the first and third, around a pair in the second. Steven Haynes (Mt. Kisco, N.Y./Horace Greeley) was hit by pitch, stole second and later scored on an error to put the Devils on the board in the first.

A pair of walks and a two-run single from senior Andrew Sterling (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) stretched the lead to 3-0 in the second. Senior Garrett Horan (Providence, R.I./Moses Brown) drew a walk in the third, stole second and scored on a single from classmate Matt Tuneski (Waterford, Conn./Waterford).

Horan returned the favor in the sixth, driving in Sterling, who recorded his fourth straight single of the afternoon. That made the score 6-0 after sophomore Joe Tursi (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City) homered to lead-off the inning.

Messiah pushed across a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 6-1. Sterling scored off the bat of Horan once again in the eighth before the Falcons looked to rally with a four-run eighth of their own, cutting the deficit to 7-5.

The Red Devils responded in the top of the ninth. First-year Mitch Helmandollar (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) drove in Ben Sciambi (Port Monmouth, N.J./Ridge) and came around with Tursi as they both scored on a triple from Sterling. Sterling capitalized on a passed ball to stretch the Devil lead to 11-5.

Jacob Sprengle keyed another rally attempt for the Falcons, hitting a grand slam in the bottom  of the ninth to cut the final margin to 11-9.

Sterling had a monster game, tying a school and Centennial Conference record with a 6-for-6 performance. He had five singles, four RBIs and three runs scored, adding a two-run triple. Tursi and Helmandollar each recorded a pair of hits on the day.

Senior Sean White (Summit, N.J./Salisbury) went 7.2 innings, recording four strikeouts and surrendering just two walks. Harley Moore (Deltaville, Va./Middlesex)  came on in relief, recording four strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work.

The Red Devils improve to 11-5 overall. They open Centennial Conference play next Tuesday, traveling to Johns Hopkins for a 3:30 start.