Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Baseball
Messiah 5, Lebanon Valley 4 (9 inn.)
Messiah 11, Lebanon Valley 9 (8 inn.)

ANNVILLE, Pa. - Lebanon Valley and Messiah battled through a pair of extra-inning games on Saturday, but Messiah took both ends of the Commonwealth Conference doubleheader.

LVC forced last-gasp rallies in both games to send them to extras, but Messiah won 5-4 in nine innings in the opener and 11-9 in eight to end the day as darkness threatened.

Eric Leymeister hit a three-run home run in the seventh of game one to send it to extras, but Ben Sollenberger's double in the ninth won it for Messiah; in game two, Devin Dellinger's two-run single in the seventh tied it 9-9 but it was Sollenberger again who put the Falcons ahead with two runs in the eighth.

The results gave Messiah (10-8, 8-3 CC) sole possession of second place, with the Dutchmen (15-9, 6-5 CC) falling back to fourth place.

Game One
Messiah built a 4-0 lead through three in the opener, scoring a run in each of the first two innings before Jon Heisey's two-run double in the third made it 4-0.

The Dutchmen chipped away with Jordan Higgins' RBI double to plate Tim Filer in the sixth, but it was a dramatic rally in the seventh that sent the game to extras. Brett Fundell led off with a walk and Corey Cinicola was hit by a pitch to put the tying run at the plate in Leymeister; he homered to tie it, but Messiah's defense got out of the jam with a double play to end the inning.

Neither team got anything going in the eighth, but Messiah broke through when Zach Brubaker was plunked and then scored on Sollenberger's ninth-inning double. Cinicola was again hit by a pitch to lead off the ninth, and advanced to second on an error that let Phill Dohner reach, but LVC left the winning run on first with two straight outs to end the game.

Michael Houseal went six innings and allowed four earned runs in the no decision; Jason Barthold (2-2) took the loss with 2.2 innings of work, and Mike Wakalowski got the final out. John Griffitts (4-0) earned the win in relief after LVC touched staff ace Steven Ridings for four earned in his seven innings of work.

Game Two
The nightcap was a slugfest as the two teams combined for 20 runs on 24 hits. Messiah took a quick 4-0 lead in the first, but the Dutchmen chipped away with Dellinger's RBI single in the bottom half and Dohner's sacrifice fly in the second to cut the lead to 4-2.

Jacob Sprengle put the Falcons up 5-2 with a double in the third to plate Sollenberger, but a two-run double by Cinicola later in the inning brought LVC within a run, and Tim Filer took the lead back in the fifth with a two-run double of his own to score Zach Smith and Cinicola.

Messiah wasted no time snatching the advantage back as Brubaker re-took the lead with a two-run single in the sixth, and RBIs by Joe Saufley and Casey Ebersole put LVC in a 9-6 hole heading to their last at-bat.

But as they had done in game one, LVC battled back to tie it with three runs in the frame. With one out, Higgins walked with the bases loaded to make it 9-7 before Dellinger smacked a single to center to plate two runs and put the winning run on third. The Dutchmen couldn't capitalize, however, and Sollenberger's two-out single scored two in the eighth to put the Falcons ahead 11-9. A final rally couldn't materialize for LVC as they left the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the eighth.

Corey Sell lasted three innings and allowed five runs in a no decision; Lee Webber and Mike Wakalowski split relief before Pat Reagan (1-1) pitched the eighth. Zach Luman (1-0) earned the win in relief as Messiah combined four pitchers, with starter Jon Lapp going just 2.2 innings.