FORT PIERCE, Fla. - A sacrifice fly by Drake Friend in the bottom of the ninth gave Hood College a 5-4 win over Messiah in the third game of the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth series against the Falcons.

Inside the Box Score

• Friend's sac fly drove in Cam Esposito for the winning run. Esposito had opened the inning with a double, his fourth hit of the day.
• Dylan Beck had two hits and a walk.
• Jordan Patterson picked up the win in relief. Brad Sawyer allowed three runs, two earned, in six innings. The sophomore struck out five, walked one and allowed five hits. Jake Howell and Ryan D'Allesandro combined on a scoreless seventh.

How it Happened

• After Esposito doubled to lead off Hood's half of the ninth, Daniel Shepherd walked and Beck singled to load the bases. With one out, Friend sent a fly ball to right field and Esposito scampered home to break the 4-4 tie.
• Messiah had created the deadlock in the eighth when Colin Fry led off the inning with a walk and later scored on a passed ball.
• Dan Wiederrecht gave the Falcons a 1-0 lead in the third. A passed ball and a home run by Fry made it 3-0 after the top of the fifth. Hood answered with two runs with two outs in the bottom of the fifth to pull within a run. Esposito drove in a run with a single and a bases loaded walk to Beck scored a run.
• The Blazers took the lead with single runs in each the sixth and seventh. Friend singled to lead off the sixth and tied the game at 3-3 when he scored on a fielder's choice by Jordan Patterson in the sixth. An error allowed Hood to take the lead in the seventh after Esposito had a leadoff single.

Notes

• Fry tripled, homered and walked for Messiah. Trent Culver scored twice.
• Drew Betz took the loss in relief. He allowed one run in two innings.

Up Next

Hood is idle until heading to Stevenson on March 23.