CARLISLE, Pa. - Do you believe in miracles? Well, miraculous does not begin to cover the rollercoaster that occurred at MacPhail Field on this chilly Thursday afternoon into the early evening. Down 3-0 and much later 12-5, Dickinson would manage a nine-run bottom of the eighth to grab a huge 14-12 non-conference win over the visiting Messiah University Falcons.

Pitching Decisions

W-Grayson Walker (1-0) | L-Dennis Snyder (0-1) | S-Joey Sangiuolo (1) 

Inside the Game

It was a normal first 7 innings as Brian Riley faced off against Luke Luckenbaugh. Riley started out pounding the zone, but the Messiah hitters were ready and managed to score the first 2 runs in the first thanks to 2 doubles from Sam Zercher and Kasey Caras. They would strike again to make it 3-0 heading to the bottom of the third as Evan Wagaman doubled to right field plating Zercher.

Dickinson got their first hit and run of the game in the third inning when Lukas Atsalis singled to bring home Tyler Scaff who walked. Riley continued to be strong on the hill allowing no more damage in the fourth. That gave the Red and White a chance to find another one in the fourth with Colin Jones drawing a walk and Tom Gannaway smacking a single. A two-out walk to Ian Beumee filled the bases for Kenny Tagliareni. During his at-bat a wild pitch allowed Jones to trot home to cut it down to 3-2 heading to the fifth.

Kasey Caras responded quickly with a shot to left that moved the game back to a 2-run difference at 4-2 through five.

The Red Devils found their sticks in the seventh and two singles and a hit batter later Cole Hare cut the lead to 4-3 before Jones ripped one to center driving in two more for the 5-4 advantage going to the eighth.

Dickinson was in command after a quality 2 innings from Koll Peichel. That was until the Falcons came up with an 8-run frame thanks to just three hits. With two on Zercher picked up an RBI single to center, followed by a wild pitch from Beau Dana which let one score. The Devils pitching staff then had issues finding the zone as they walked the next four batters forcing in two more. Mason Valentino drove in one more with a single and Zercher plated two with an infield single to extend the lead to 12-5. Grayson Walker recorded all 3 outs in that inning for the Red and White including 2 strikeouts.

The miracle then began for Dickinson in the bottom-half of the frame. Scaff got things going with a single prior to free passes being issued to Beumee and Tagliareni. The Red Devils scored the first of nine runs off the bat of Atsalis who singled to right. Luke Jackson followed that up with a 2-run double to make it 12-8. Hare brought in another with a single to left and Jones, followed with a sac fly to deep center to plate Jackson. With just Hare on-base Dickinson kept the bats rolling as Tom Gannaway ripped a double to left. Andrew Mazzone pinch-hit and was hit by a pitch during the at-bat Hare scored on a wild pitch. Scaff in his second AB of the inning singled to left driving in Gannaway to tie things at 12-12. Atsalis put the cherry on top giving the Red Devils the lead with a two-run error by the second baseman that capped a cumulative 19 running inning. Joey Sangiuolo would allow two walks and a single in the ninth but was able to shut the door to pick up his first save with two strikeouts during the frame.

On Deck

Dickinson (10-5) will now head to The College of New Jersey on Saturday for a doubleheader beginning at 11:30 AM. Dickinson has now won 10 of their last 11 games and five in a row for the second time this season.