Box Score

ANNVILLE, Pa. – Junior Craig Denlinger (Lancaster, Pa./Hempfield) hit a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth and the Lebanon Valley College baseball team rallied to defeat Messiah College 9-7 in Commonwealth Conference action Friday afternoon at McGill Park.

Lebanon Valley (9-12, 6-5 CC) won its sixth straight Commonwealth Conference game while Messiah (14-8, 8-3 CC) lost for just the second time in its last 12 games.

With the Dutchmen trailing 7-6 and runners on first and third with two outs, Denlinger lofted a high fly ball down the leftfield line that just stayed fair and barely cleared the wall.

Sophomore Ryan Dalton (Bethlehem, Pa./Freedom) threw a complete game to earn his third win of the season. Dalton (3-2) surrendered 11 hits and five walks but struck out eight.

Sophomores Jon Kelly (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) and Matt Rich (Summerdale, Pa./East Pennsboro) ripped two hits apiece for LVC while junior Ron Weaver (Lancaster, Pa./Lancaster Catholic) homered and scored a pair of runs.

Senior Jeff Grieger (Rieglesville, Pa./Wilson) singled to stretch his hitting streak to 11. He is now just two hits shy of 100 for his career.

Messiah led 5-2 after six and half innings of play but the Dutchmen came back with three runs over the seventh and eighth to tie the score at 5-5. The Falcons went back in front with a two-run homer off the bat of junior Chris Regan before LVC rallied with a two-hit, four-run ninth. Messiah committed a pair of errors in the bottom of the ninth, and all four runs scored in the inning were unearned.

Junior relief pitcher Garrett Dobbs (1-3) was charged with the loss.

Messiah jumped to a 2-0 lead with a three-hit, two-run second. The Dutchmen answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, with Rich and freshman Dan Kelly (King of Prussia, Pa./Upper Merion) roping back-to-back RBI-singles.

The Falcons scratched across one run in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings to build its 5-2 lead. LVC cut the gap to 5-3 in the seventh on a solo home run to left-center from Weaver.

In the eighth, the Valley scored twice to tie things up. With two outs, Jon Kelly drove home junior Scott Montgomery (Harrisburg, Pa./Susquehanna Township) with a double off the left-center wall. Senior Casey Long (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) plated Kelly with a line-drive double to right-center, prompting Messiah to replace starter Kyle Brobst with Dobbs.

After Regan's two-run shot in the ninth, LVC loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the frame. Freshman Richard Schwartz (Hummelstown, Pa./Lower Dauphin) walked, Rich singled and Dan Kelly reached on an error. Kelly's at-bat was extended when Messiah's first baseman dropped a foul ball.

After Montgomery grounded into a fielder's choice with the out coming at home plate, Grieger blooped a fielder's choice into rightfield, with Montgomery getting thrown out at second and pinch-runner Alex Morrison (Landisburg, Pa./West Perry) scoring from third. Denlinger followed up with his game-winning shot, his second home run of the season.

Brobst threw 7 2/3 innings and gave up five runs on nine hits. He walked three and struck out four. In one inning of work, Dobbs allowed two hits and a walk while striking out one.

Lebanon Valley returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Messiah for a doubleheader starting at noon.

[Photo - Junior Craig Denlinger, who hit a walk-off, three-run homer to lead LVC to a 9-7 win over Messiah on Friday]

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