FREDERICK, Md. - The Hood College baseball team dropped a Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth contest to visiting Messiah, 7-4.

Chris Shriver (Frederick, Md. / Gov. Thomas Johnson) went 3-for-4, stole a base and scored twice. Cam Esposito (Columbia, N.J. / North Warren Regional) and Josh Gall (Odenton, Md. / Arundel) had two hits apiece. 

Jake Franke (Lisbon, Md. / Glenelg) started, but did not factor in the decision. He pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing three earned runs on eight hits. He walked one and struck out four. Connor Henniges (Mount Airy, Md. / Linganore) took the loss in relief. 

The Falcons took a 3-0 lead in the first, but the Blazers began to chip away in the second. Shriver led off with a single and later stole third with one out. Drake Friend (Gladwyne, Pa. / Harriton) knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 ballgame. 

The Blazers pulled within a run in the fourth. After a two-out, infield single by Nathan Kessler (Gaithersburg, Md. / Quince Orchard), the throw back to the pitcher was wild, allowing Kessler to move into scoring position. Esposito followed with a base hit up the middle to make the score 3-2.

Josh Good's second RBI single of the day gave Messiah a 4-2 lead in the fifth, but Hood rallied to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.

Singles by Gall, Shriver and Nat Puryear (Frederick, Md. / Tuscarora) loaded the bases with one out. After a passed ball trimmed the Blazers' deficit to 4-3, Tyler Cook (Selinsgrove, Pa. / Selinsgrove) ripped an RBI single to tie the game. 

A three-run top of the ninth gave Messiah the victory. Josh Hayner led off with a double and scored what proved to be the winning run on a wild pitch. Kyle Schoen had a two-run single to drive in a pair of insurance runs. 

Good, Hayner and Shoen all had two hits for the Falcons. 

Drew Betz pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for the win. Starter Zach Luman allowed four runs in 6 1/3 innings. 

The two teams wrap up the season series with a doubleheader at Messiah on Saturday, Apr. 16.