York, Pa. (May 7, 2016) - Colin Fry tripled and homere and drove in four runs for #3 Messiah College (22-19) in a 4-1 win over #1 Alvernia University (27-15) Saturday afternoon in the first elimination game of the MAC Commonwealth Baseball Championships at PeoplesBank Stadium.
Conference Pitcher of the Year, Steven Ridings, went the distance for the Falcons allowing one run with 14 strikeouts.
Joseph Saufley singled to open the fourth inning and Fry tripled to drive him in with no one out. Alvernia starter
Ryan Sheekey was able to avoid further damage getting a pop out, then after an intentional walk, the Crusaders got Fry at home on a grounder to third, and got the final out on a grounder to second.
The Falcons took a 4-0 lead in the fifth when Fry hit a 3-run homer.
Alvernia got on the board in the seventh when
Ryan Keen and
Ben Dubas both singled with two outs. Keen advanced to third and scored on one of three wild pitches uncorked by Ridings in the inning. The Crusaders had runners on in both the eighth and ninth, but couldn't push another run across against Ridings.
#3 Messiah 4, #1 Alvernia 1