VIRGINIA BEACH, VA. (May 16, 2025) – The Golden Bears took on Messiah University in an elimination game down in Virginia. The Falcons started quickly, scoring one run in the first and three in the second to give themselves a 4-0 advantage over WNE. WNE would get two runs back in the third. However, Messiah would get two more runs in the top of the fifth inning and hold on to that lead to defeat the Golden Bears 6-2, ending WNE's conference championship season in the NCAA Regional round.

NCAA Regionals Elimination Game 1: Messiah 6, Western New England 2

The Golden Bears saw game one on Thursday start, with them scoring first. However, on Friday, it was Messiah who got the first run in the top of the first inning. A sacrifice bunt from Fallon Feaser led to the runner on first making it to third base. A throwing error led to that runner scoring, and Messiah was up quickly 1-0. Ava Blanchard would see the next batter get on via an error before getting the next two batters out to end the top of the first inning and bring WNE up to the plate for the first time during the elimination contest. Blanchard did get the final batter to strike out to end the inning. The Golden Bears would get two runners on base via walks but could not get a runner to second and were left without a run after the first inning. The Falcons extended their lead in the top of the second. With runners on second and third, Rebekah Wiley slapped a double down the left-field line. That brought a runner home. The next batter, Sierra Emery, hit a single into right field, bringing a third run home. WNE trailed 3-0 with no outs in the top of the second inning. Wiley would score on a wild pitch after the Golden Bears got one out. Blanchard followed that with a strikeout to get the second out of the inning and caught a line out right after that to get the Golden Bears out of the inning down 4-0. The Golden Bears were able to pick up two singles in the bottom of the second but could not score a run. The Falcons led WNE 4-0 going into the third inning. Blanchard and the Golden Bear defense shut down the Falcon offense in the third. Blanchard pitched a one, two, three inning, striking out another batter to end the inning. The Golden Bear offense would continue the momentum. The first two batters got on base. Then, Gracie Hemstock hit into a fielder's choice. However, Marley Rodriguez got home before the throw. Then, Coach Amanda Novak had Angelees Carrasquillo run home when the pitcher was not looking and walking back to the pitching circle. Carrasquillo scored, and the deficit was cut in half. WNE trailed 4-2 with no outs in the bottom of the third. Messiah's pitcher, Maggie Chinnadurai, would answer by getting the next three batters out and would keep the Falcons up by two going into the fourth inning. Blanchard made it nine consecutive outs in the top of the fourth inning, with another three batters up and three batters down inning, collecting a fourth strikeout to end the inning. Chinnadurai stifled the Golden Bear momentum in the bottom of the fourth inning by sitting them down one, two, three to move the game to the fifth inning. The Falcons would get their first runner on base due to an error in the top of the fifth. With that runner on third with two outs, Kandice Schlabach hit a single through the left side of the infield, which extended the Falcons' lead to 5-2. The very next batter, Allie Book, slapped a double into left-center field, and Messiah led 6-2. Evelyn Picone entered the pitching circle and struck out the final batter of the inning to stop the Falcons' two-out rally. The Messiah defense would hold the Golden Bears in the bottom of the fifth, with Chinnadurai sitting WNE down one, two, three to keep the four-run advantage going into the sixth. The top of the sixth saw the Falcons get a runner on base, but Picone would get the other three batters out to keep the deficit at four. The bottom of the sixth saw the first WNE batter reach base, but Chinnadurai would sit the next three batters down, and the Golden Bears were down to their final three outs of the season. Picone would get the first two Falcon batters of the seventh inning out, with the first being a strikeout. Two batters would get on base after that. However, Picone would get the final batter to ground out, and the Golden Bears would have their final chance to tie or win the game. Chinnadurai got the first batter to strike out, the second batter to ground out, and got the final batter to pop out to end the game. Messiah took down WNE 6-2.

Around the Diamond:

• The Golden Bears saw four batters get hits during the contest.
• Gracie Hemstock collected the lone RBI for WNE.
• The Golden Bear pitchers pitched seven innings, letting up seven hits and three earned runs, and struck out six batters.
• The Falcons were led by Annie Book, who went 2-for-4 with a double. Sarah Emery also led the Falcons at the plate with a 2-for-3 performance.
• Rebekah Wiley joined Book with the other extra-base hit for the Falcons. It was a double.
• Maggie Chinnadurai pitched a complete game, letting up only four hits and two runs. Chinnadurai struck out three WNE batters.
• The Falcons defeated the Golden Bears 6-2.

Up Next:

The Golden Bears end their season with the loss to the Messiah University Falcons. They end with a 26-17-1 overall record, an 11-6-1 record in conference, a CNE Championship title, and a trip to the NCAA Championships for a second consecutive season.