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LANCASTER, PA – Messiah College centerfielder Jessica DeBoer went four-for-seven with three runs scored, a triple, a home run, three runs batted in and started a triple play to lead the Falcons to 9-1 and 4-1 victories over Franklin & Marshall College in softball at Baker Field. Overall, the Diplomats out hit Messiah 13-8, but the Falcons plated 13 runs as Messiah collected 13 walks, six hit batsmen, two triples and a homerun in the doubleheader. In game one, Messiah (6-2, 0-0 Middle Atlantic Conference) jumped on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning as DeBoer was hit by the first pitch of the game and stole second base. Lisa Gilchrist walked to put runners on first and second with no outs before Gina Weaver laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners to second and third. Amy Bowie lofted a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in DeBoer and move Gilchrist to third base. Kristin Memmelaar walked to put runners on the corners, but F&M starting pitcher Laura Kaesshaefer (So., Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter) got Ashleigh Wykoff to pop up to end the inning as the Falcons plated a run with a hit. Messiah tacked on another run in the second inning and scored three runs in the third to push the lead out to 5-0 entering the bottom of the third inning. Centerfielder Dana Johns (Sr., York, PA/Eastern York) engineered the Diplomats’ run as she beat out an infield single before stealing second and third base. Catcher Lauren Incorvaia (Fr., Manalapan, NJ/St. John Vianney) walked and stole second base to put a pair of runners in scoring position before first baseman Robyn Jones (Jr., Titusville, PA/The Pennington School) slapped a slow-rolling grounder to the shortstop that was misplayed to allow Johns to score. In the top of the fourth inning, the Falcons jumped out to an 8-1 lead as Lana Trotter tripled to center field to clear the bases for three RBI. DeBoer finished the Falcons scoring in the sixth as she drove in pinch-hitter Eshter May for her team’s ninth run. Kaesshaefer took the loss for the Diplomats (0-2, 0-0 Centennial Conference) allowing eight runs, four earned, on two hits and six walks. Bonnie Crouthamel (So., Chatham, NJ/Chatham) finished the game hurling two innings with one hit, one earned run allowed, four walks and three strikeouts. Rebecca Croft took the win for Messiah pitching five innings with four hits, one unearned run allowed, a walk and six strikeouts before being relieved by Jenna Batchelor in the fifth who pitched one inning with two hits allowed and a strikeout. Overall, Johns led the Diplomats going one-for-three with a run scored as the leadoff hitter, while second baseman Meredith Morgan (Fr., Phoenixville, PA/Owen J. Roberts) was two-for-three with a double. The Falcons took the lead in the top of the first inning of game two as DeBoer walked and stole second base before Gilchrist walked for two runners with no outs. Weaver reached out on a fielders’ choice to put runners on the corners before Bowie doubled to left field to plate DeBoer and Gilchrist for a 2-0 lead. Following a 1-2-3 inning by Trotter in the circle, Messiah tacked on another run in the top of the second inning as Wykoff singled to left field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out single to centerfield by DeBoer for a 3-0 lead. Franklin & Marshall broke the ice in the bottom of the second inning as first baseman Kathleen Clinchy (So., Katonah, NY/Somers) doubled to center field and moved to second on a fielders’ choice. Right fielder Leah Pearlman-Storch drove her in with an RBI single to right field to slice the Falcons’ lead to 3-1. The Diplomats threatened again in the bottom of the fourth inning as Morgan doubled down the right field line and Jones singled to left field to put runners on the corners with no outs. However, Trotter worked out of the jam with a triple play as third baseman Samantha Basuk (Fr., New York, NY/Indian Hills) flied out to DeBoer in centerfield who tossed a strike to Bowie at the plate to tag out Morgan. Bowie completed the play by throwing down to second baseman Amy Ruhf to catch Jones attempting to advance to second base on the play to end the inning. DeBoer completed her day at the plate by leading off the seventh inning with a homerun to centerfield to set the 4-1 final score as she finished the game two-for-three with two runs scored, two RBIs and a walk. Ali Tyler (So., Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) took the loss for the Diplomats pitching a five hit complete game with three walks and six strikeouts, while Trotter earned the win going the full seven innings with six hits and one walk allowed with five strikeouts. Franklin & Marshall (0-2, 0-0 Centennial Conference) will continue the season on March 11-18 at the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Florida.
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