Lebanon Valley 3, Messiah 2

LVC Starters
1. Mike Puglisi lf, 2. Edwards 2b, 3. Z. Smith ss, 4. Fundell 1b, 5. Dohner cf, 6. Smarkanic 3b, 7. Dellinger dh, 8. Albright c, 9. Harned rf, Wall p

Messiah Starters
1. Mullin c, 2. Drake rf, 3. Saufley 1b, 4. Heisey cf, 5. Good dh, 6. Janney ss, 7. Sollenberger lf, 8. Fry 3b, 9. Brubaker 2b, Ridings p

How It Happened
Casey Wall turned in his best pitching performance of the season, Patrick Reagan worked out of trouble in the ninth inning, and Lebanon Valley's never-say-die mentality shone through in the Flying Dutchmen's thrilling 3-2 victory over Commonwealth Conference rival Messiah on Thursday afternoon.

The Falcons (6-10, 4-6 CC) struck first when Joe Saufley tripled to right center field in the top of the first inning, scoring Derek Drake from first base. But LVC (8-8, 3-3 CC) had an answer in the bottom of the frame when Phill Dohner's ground ball plated Zac Edwards and tied things at 1-1.

From there, it was all about which starter would blink first as Wall and Messiah's Steven Ridings found themselves in a pitching duel in the middle innings. Both pitchers sat down the opposition 1-2-3 in the second inning and Wall faced the minimum in the third thanks to Colin Albright's laser from behind the plate that got Zach Brubaker attempting to swipe second base.

An error in the fourth cost the Dutchmen when Adam Janney's double to center field drove in Jon Heisey's unearned run.

The top of the seventh proved huge for LVC as Wall stranded Falcons on second and third in the top of the inning and Edwards doubled in the bottom half, scoring Albright and knotting the score at 2-2.

Messiah appeared poised to reclaim the advantage when Drake doubled to lead off the eighth but Wall proved game once more, getting a strikeout, groundout to third base, and strikeout to end the threat. In the bottom half, the Dutchmen went to work as Dohner walked to lead off, Frank Nietz laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him to second, and Devin Dellinger singled to left field to drive him in and give Lebanon Valley its first lead of the game at 3-2.

Reagan took the bump to close things out in the top of the ninth but Janney's lead-off triple kept the outcome in doubt. Reagan stayed steady, however, and his defense backed him up nicely as Andrew Woolley checked the runner at third before recording the first ground ball out and Edwards did the same at second base to record out number two. Brubaker struck out swinging at a ball in the dirt and Brett Fundell made a great scoop of Albright's throw to get record the final out and seal the heart-pounding victory.

On the Mound
- Casey Wall (3-1) was stout, throwing 8.0 innings and allowing just one earned run, seven hits, no walks and striking out seven. The win was his third of the season.
- Patrick Reagan earned his second save of the year by getting the Falcons to ground out twice and striking out the game's final batter, all after Messiah led off the ninth with a triple.
- Messiah's Steven Ridings turned in a strong performance as well, throwing 7.0 innings and allowing just two runs on seven hits and five walks.

At the Plate
- Zac Edwards was 3-for-4 in the two slot for LVC with a double, an RBI, and a run scored.
- Phill Dohner finished 1-for-3 with an RBI, a run scored, and a walk.
- Messiah's Adam Janney went 3-for-4 at the dish with a triple, a double, and an RBI.

Around the Diamond
- Neither team stole a base. Each team caught one opposing runner trying to swipe second.
- Messiah racked up four extra-base hits (two triples, two doubles) compared to just one for Lebanon Valley.
- Brett Fundell recorded 12 putouts at first base, two of them coming following strikeouts that hit the dirt.

Quotables
"It was a great team win and we battled all game long," said LVC head coach Keith Evans following his team's hard-fought victory. "Casey Wall and Patrick Reagan were outstanding. It was a great game."

Stat of the Game
110-109 – You want to talk about evenly-matched? Lebanon Valley threw exactly one more pitch than the Falcons in Thursday's game. Starters Casey Wall and Steven Ridings were workhorses, hurling 101 and 100 pitches, respectively, while relievers Patrick Reagan and Tyler Moody tossed nine each.

Next Up
LVC and Messiah square off again in Grantham, Pa. on Monday afternoon. Game one of the conference doubleheader is set for 12 p.m.