FORT PIERCE, Fla. - Nate Luscombe pitched Hood College's first complete game shutout of the year in the opener of a Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth doubleheader before Messiah ended the Blazers' season-opening win streak at 14 games in game two. Hood outlasted the Falcons 1-0 in the first game and Messiah took the finale 5-2. 

Luscombe pitched a five-hitter and struck out 10 for his third win of the season and his second complete game. 

The game two loss was Hood's first of the year. The Blazers are 14-1 overall and 1-1 in the MAC Commonwealth. Messiah sits at 4-5 overall and is also 1-1 in conference play. 

Hood 1, Messiah 0

• Luscombe out-dueled the Falcons' Quinton Kuntz to give the Blazers' the victory in the conference opener for both teams.
• Both hurlers gave up five hits but Hood strung a pair of hits together in the top of the seventh for the win. Dylan Beck led off the inning with a single and moved up to second with two outs. Cam Espositoknocked him in with an RBI single for what proved to be the only run of the contest. 
• Luscombe struck out a pair of batters to start the bottom of the seventh and induced a grounder to short for the game's final out. His 10 strikeouts tied a career-high. 
• Esposito singled twice and stole a base. Jordan Patterson doubled. 
• Josh Hayner had two hits for Messiah. 
• Kuntz struck out eight in the loss. 

Messiah 5, Hood 2

• The Falcons took advantage of three Hood errors in the fourth inning to score all five runs. 
• The Blazers threatened in the seventh. Esposito and Nathan Kessler reached base via a hit and a walk to start the inning. A one-out single by Drake Friend drove in Esposito for Hood's first run. An error by the Falcons allowed Kessler to score to make it 5-2 with two outs but Messiah's Jordan Nichols picked up a game-ending strikeout to end the game. 
• Adam Janney and Trent Culver had RBI singles during the fourth for the Falcons. 
• Ryan Atkinson took the loss, allowing all five runs but none were earned. He allowed two hits and three walks, striking out two in 3.2 innings. Dylan Johnson pitched the final 2.1, striking out two and allowing one hit. 
• Nichols pitched a complete game and struck out six. He gave up three hits and a walk on his way to the victory. 

Up Next 

The two teams complete the season series with a single nine-inning game on Friday, March 16.