Philadelphia, Pa., Saturday, March 26, 2011--  Arcadia University Baseball rallied in the first game of this afternoon's double-header down three to tie and force extras, Messiah used a four run top of the eighth to take the opener 7-3. In the second game, Messiah jumped out to an early 8-0 through the first three innings, to complete the weekend sweep of the Knights with a 10-3 victory. Arcadia falls to 1-14 overall and remains winless in conference play at 0-6.

In game one Messiah would get out of the gates early, posting a three run top of the first inning, utilizing a couple of timely hits and an error by the Knights to take control early. However, Arcadia would continue to fight, getting good at bats in the early innings, showing signs of a potential come back. Their time would come in the bottom of the fourth inning. Jerry Smith, who had a impressive double-header at the plate got the inning started with a lead-off single to left field. Kyle Jackson next at bat would ground to the pitcher in what looked like would be an easy double play opportunity for the Falcons, instead an error by the pitcher looking to force Smith out at second, put runners on first and second with no one out and just the break the Knights needed. Jackson and Smith would follow this up with a double steal, placing runners on second and third still without an out recorded in the inning. After the Falcons were finally able to record the first out of the inning off a pop-out junior Matt Snyder placed the ball perfectly outside the shortstop, unable to make a play Snyder reached on the single, and Smith scored for the first Arcadia run of the afternoon. After a steal by Synder to take the double-play option away, sophomore Nick Petroski flied out to deep center, scoring Jackson from third, and a throwing error by the Messiah relay man allowed Snyder to come around on the same play, knotting the game at three runs a piece.

With the score tied at 3-3, both the Knight and Falcon pitchers found their comfort zone on the mound, not allowing a single hit through the final three innings of play, forcing extras. However, after the Knights were able to record the first two outs of the top of the eighth inning, Messiah again regained its stride at the plate, using three hits and an error by the Knights to score four runs in the inning. The Knights would go quietly in the bottom half of the inning, for a Messiah victory, 7-4.

First-year Aaron Benusis took the loss in Game one for Arcadia, going seven innings, allowing seven runs, only four of whih were earned on five hits while striking out five.

In the second game, Messiah would use 10 hits over the course of the first three innings to take an 8-0 advantage and basically put the game out of reach early. Arcadia would score one run in the bottom of the third inning, however Messiah responded with two more runs in the top of the fourth to take a commanding 10-1 through three-and-a-half innings of play.

Arcadia would score a lone run in the bottom of the fifth and seventh innings but it wasn't enough to overcome the early Falcon advantage.

Senior Jason Heryla on the mound for the start of the second game was only able to get through two innings of work while allowing eight runs, five earned on 10 hits, taking the loss.

Sophomore Jerry Smith was a bright spot for Arcadia despite the losses, going 5-8 at the plate with three RBI, including a perfect 4-for-4 in game two.

Arcadia returns to the field Tuesday March 29 when they travel to Rowan University for a non-conference game, first pitch set for 3:30 p.m.