Grantham, Pa., Friday, March 25, 2011--  Messiah College scored five runs between the third and sixth innings this afternoon to take the first of the three game series between the Falcons and Knights. The two teams will finish the series tomorrow afternoon at Erny Field the home field for Arcadia University, with first pitch set for noon.

Arcadia scored the first run of the ball game in the top of the second inning, taking advantage of untimely poor fielding by the Messiah defense, however the Falcons answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at one run a piece. From there Messiah would take control of the game, only allowing two hits over the next four innings to the Arcadia batters, while putting five runs on the board in the same time span. 

The Knights would try to mount a comeback in the ninth inning after holding Messiah scoreless through the seventh and eighth. Junior Matt Snyder started the inning off with a single and would eventually advance to third, however not before the Knights were down to their last out. With the rally hats on deck, junior Mike McElhatton would deliver an RBI single, scoring Snyder and pulling Arcadia one run closer. Unfortunately the rally would end there as the next Arcadia batter grounded out to the pitcher, sealing the Falcon 6-2, victory. 

Junior Adam Planamento took the loss for the Knights falling to 0-4 on the season. Planamento went five innings allowing 5 runs, 4 earned on five hits before being relieved by first-year David Jacobs. Jacobs, in relief, pitched two innings allowing one unearned run on one hit. Classmate Jay Zehring finished the game on the mound for the Knights, pitching one scoreless inning while allowing two hits.