The University of Mary Washington softball team dropped a pair of games to visiting Messiah College on Tuesday afternoon at the Battleground. The Eagles slip to 6-5 on the season.
In the opener, the Falcons jumped ahead with a pair of runs in the second, but UMW answered with one back in the bottom of the second, as Morgan Mumford reached on a fielder's choice to score Rachel Remer. UMW jumped ahead in the fourth on a Rachel Porchie home run, and added another in the fifth, as Hannah Bruns tripled and Maggie Mrowka drove her in with an RBI single.
After the Falcons rallied for three runs in the sixth to take the lead, the Eagles responded with a run in the sixth as well, as Dayla Sawyer tripled and scored on a groundout. Messiah found the winning run in the eighth inning.
Porchie led the way with two hits in three at bats, including her two-run homer, and Mrowka and Remer each had two hits as well. Jamie Purtell took the loss, allowing five earned runs in 7.1 innings with two walks and three strikeouts.
In the nightcap, the Eagles raced out to a 7-0 lead, thanks to a run in the first as Bruns singled, stole third, and scored on a Porchie single. The Eagles erupted for six runs in the second, as Madi Marsden, Mrowka, Sawyer, Newman and Porchie each delivered RBI, with Porchie plating two with a single.
Messiah answered with five runs in the fourth and sixth in the fifth to take the lead, and while the Eagles tallied one run in the fifth, they were unable to knot the game again.
Bruns, Mrowka, Porchie and Marsden each had two hits for UMW, with Porchie knocking in three runs. Juliet Truslow took the loss in relief, allowing four earned runs on three hits in one inning.
The Eagles will be back in action on Thursday when they host Bridgewater College at 3 p.m.