Baseball Comes Up Short against Messiah
SELINSGROVE, Pa. – It finally looked and felt like spring,
but the Susquehanna baseball team was unable to enjoy its return
home to Bollinger Field as the Crusaders dropped a 6-4 game to
visiting Messiah.
Starter Matt Lottes (Muttontown, N.Y./Long Island
Lutheran) lasted four innings and gave up six runs, only
four of which were earned. A trio of relievers in
James Lefever (West Chester, Pa.), Matt
Smith (Blue Ridge Summit, Pa.) and Nick Torkildsen
(Milford, Pa./Delaware Valley HS) combined to pitch five
no-hit innings to keep the game within reach.
The Crusaders (10-19) actually out-hit Messiah (19-15) by an 11-7
margin, with three SU batters finishing with two hits. Ken
Kayama [Koto-Ku, Japan/Solebury (Pa.)] was one of those
players, as he also scored two runs. Ben
Anderson (Mechanicsburg, Pa.), meanwhile, drove
home two runs on two hits.
The Falcons opened the game by scoring one run courtesy of a walk,
a wild pitch, a passed ball and a RBI groundout.
It remained 1-0 until Messiah scored two more runs off Lottes in
the fourth on two hits, the biggest coming off the bat of Jamie
Scott, whose double to right center sent home both runs.
SU was able to get back one of those run in its half of the fourth
on Anderson’s RBI single to shortstop.
The Falcons got to Lottes for three more runs in the fifth inning.
A RBI single, a passed ball and a sac fly accounted for the three
runs and put Susquehanna in a 6-1 hole.
The Crusaders rallied in sixth and seventh innings, though. They
scored two runs on a Greg Stellon (Chadds Ford,
Pa.) sac fly and Anderson came through with another RBI
single to cut the lead to three.
SU put together another small rally in the seventh on an
Erik Tuomisto (Northumberland,
Pa./Shikellamy/Pitt.-Johnstown) RBI double to right center
that scored Ethan Riker (Lancaster, Pa./Manheim
Twp.), who had reached on a one-out single, for a 6-4
ballgame.
Unfortunately, Susquehanna was retired in order in the eighth and
failed to take advantage of leadoff single in the ninth.
Next game: Friday, April 22 vs. Juniata – 4 p.m.