(Grantham, Pa.) – The Dickinson baseball team took a 7-4 lead on Messiah, but the Falcons battled back to tie, and scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth in a non-conference match-up on Wednesday afternoon.
The Falcons took an early lead, scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning. First-year Evan Soloman (Lloyd Harbor, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) led-off the second inning with a triple and came in on a single from Bryton Peternal (Allison Park, Pa./Central Catholic). The Devils added two more in the inning as Peternal stole second and eventually scored on a wild pitch. Brian McCloud (Medfield, Mass.Medfield) scored another on a passed ball to put Dickinson up, 3-1.
Messiah tied the game with lone runs in the second and third innings. The Devils regained the lead in the fourth as McCloud reached on a lead-off walk and would score on a base-loaded walk from Luke Besse (Marston Mills, Mass./Barnstable) to give the Devils a 4-3 advantage.
The Devils tacked on three runs in the fifth inning. Back-to-back doubles from Peternal and Alex Rhoads (Princeton, N.J./Solebury) led to the first while Jesse Skaff (Hampton, N.H./Governor's Academy) doubled as well, scoring two more runs to stretch the lead to 7-3.
Messiah cut the deficit to one run, scoring three in the bottom of the sixth. Jeremiah Eaton drove in two runs with a single and came in to score on an RBI from Jordan Seltzer.
The Falcons capitalized on a Red Devil error to push the tying run across in the eighth inning. Ben Sollenberger drew a walk and came in to score on a single from Zach Brubaker.
Messiah manufactured one run in the bottom of the ninth to come away with the win. Casey Ebersole singled to lead-off the inning and stole second. He moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and came in to score on a sacrifice fly to center field by Matt Turman.
Peternal led the Devils at the plate, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Rhoads went 2-for-5 as well with an RBI and a run scored. McCloud singled, reached twice on walks and came in to score three times on the day.
Jimmy Robertson (Rockville, Md./Richard Montgomery) went five innings in the start, scattering three hits and recording three strikeouts. Mitch Helmandollar (Glenolden, Pa./Interboro) recorded four strikeouts in two innings of relief. Bryan Wacker (Virginia Beach, Va./Cape Henry Collegiate) and Tyler Clauson-Wolf (Philadelphia, Pa./Germantown Friends) also threw solid innings.
The Red Devils slip to 11-20 overall. They return to Centennial Conference action on Friday, hosting McDaniel College at 3:30 pm.
