Box Score

ANNVIILLE, Pa. – Junior Kyle Stuckey tossed a seven-hit complete game, leading Messiah College to a 10-4 victory over Lebanon Valley in a Commonwealth Conference baseball game and the Flying Dutchmen’s home opener Friday afternoon at McGill Park.

Messiah (7-8, 3-1 CC) never trailed after scoring twice in the top of the second. The Falcons extended their advantage to 10-0 before Lebanon Valley (1-12, 0-4 CC) plated four runs over the eighth and ninth innings.

Leading the Dutchman offense was junior Chris Schank, who clouted a solo home run, his first long ball of the season and the second of his career. He scored two runs and drove in two runs. Senior Dan Kelly finished 2-for-4 with a triple.

Five different Falcons wrapped a pair of hits, including Craig Mease, who went 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.

Messiah scored twice on three hits and an error in the second, and the 2-0 score held up through the first five innings, as LVC starter Matt Sanders limited the Falcons to five hits during the stretch. Stuckey was also pitching well in the early going, facing the minimum over the first three innings. He blanked the Dutchmen over the first seven frames, when he gave up just four hits.

The Falcons pushed their lead to 5-0 after scoring once in the sixth and twice in the seventh. Messiah broke the game open in the eighth, scoring five times on four hits and two walks against LVC relievers Mike Snyder and Devin Schneider.

Sophomore Jimmy Luchansky worked a three-up, three-down ninth for the Dutchmen.

Schank put LVC on the scoreboard in the eighth, when lifted a towering blast over the leftfield wall on the first pitch. The Dutchmen added three runs on two hits, a walk, and two wild pitches in the ninth.

Stuckey (3-0) kept his perfect record intact while throwing his first complete game of the season. He struck out two and walked four. Sanders (0-3) was charged with the loss, yielding five runs (three earned) on nine hits and one walk. He fanned four.

The two teams meet again in a doubleheader at Messiah on Saturday starting at noon.

[Photo - Junior Chris Schank]

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