On their second road trip of the year, Fisher College Baseball traveled to Cleveland, Georgia to play a four game set with host, Truett-McConnell College.    After a three week layoff from games, the 0-2 Falcons were eager to play after their 19-hour journey from Boston to Cleveland. 

In game 1, the Falcons jumped out to a 2-0 lead when Ramcy Lora (SR/Lawrence, MA) drove a double off the left field fence to score Dom Zaher (JR/Chelmsford, MA) and Victor Lebron (SR-/Union City, NJ).  Truitt-McConnell would score 3 in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-2 lead.  The Falcons came back to score 3 in top of the 3^rd to go up 5-3 and added one more in the 4^th to take a 6-3 lead.  In the 5^th, Truett-McConnell threatened as they loaded the bases with no outs.  Fisher starting pitcher, Victor Mendez (JR-Lawrence, MA), buckled down and struck out the next 3 hitters on 11 pitches.  The Falcons ended up winning 6-3.  Victor Mendez went the distance on the mound striking out 7 while allowing only 2 earned runs.   Offensively, the Falcons were powered by Ranmcy Lora (3 hits) and Yuliano Rodriguez (SO/Bayamon, PR) and Yhonathan Santelises (SR/Lynn, MA) both added 2 hits.

In game 2 of the double header, the Falcons started out the game scoring 2 runs in the first inning and never looked back.  Every time Truit-McConnell scored, the Falcons would answer with more runs.  Brett Remon (SR/Salem, MA) hit the first homerun of the season with 2 runners on.   Starting pitcher, John Tangherlini (SR/Lincoln, RI) earned his first win of the season while going 6 and 1/3 innings of work and allowing 3 earned runs.   With the tying runs on base and go ahead run at the plate, Chris Cantu (JR-Alamo, TX) came on in relief to retire the first 2 hitters he faced to record his first save of the season.  Seven Falcons in the lineup recorded a hit.

On Sunday, following a team Truett-McConnell led prayer breakfast, the two teams went at it again.   Game 3 of the series was a pitching duel.   The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the 5^th when Truett-McConnell scrapped out the first run of the game.    In the top of the 6^th, Victor Lebron got a one-out hit and then advanced to 2^nd base on a wild pitch.  With 2-outs and a full count, Ramcy Lora stepped up again and drove a single up the middle to plate Lebron and tie the game.  With the game still tied at 1-1, the Falcons came to the plate in the top of the 7^th.  Yuliano Rodriguez led off with a double and gave way to pinch runner, Nelson Lopez (SO/Brooklyn, NY).   With one out, Lopez stole 3^rd base to set up the hero of the day, Dylan Moss (JR/Newfoundland, CAN).   Moss, a pinch hitter, came into the game and drove in Lopez with a single passed the drawn in infield to take a 2-1 lead.  The rest of the Falcons lineup used this momentum and added 3 more insurance runs to take game 3, 5-1.  On the mound, Adam Somers (SO/Framingham, MA) earned the win while going 2 scoreless innings out of the bull pen.  Starter and star of the day, Shawn Carlson (JR/Lawrence, MA), went 5 strong innings while allowing only 1 run on 3 hits while striking out 9. 

In game 2, the Falcons once again jumped out to an early lead when Victor Lebron scored on a sacrifice fly ball hit by Davidson Peguero (SR/Boston, MA).  The Falcons added another run in the 2^nd inning, two more in the 3^rd and a final insurance run in the 6^th.   Falcons starting pitcher, Moises Melo (SR/Methuen, MA) went 4 innings allowing just 1 run to get the win.  Reliever, Pedro Escarfullery (SR/Waterbury, CT) pitches 2 innings of relief while allowing 1 run.  In the 7^th, just like the rest of the series, Truett-McConnell put themselves in a position to tie or take the lead when Escarfullery gave way to closer, Chris Cantu.  Cantu came in with the tying run at the plate and recorded the next 3 outs in a row to pick up his 2^nd save of the series and the season.   Offensively, Dom Zaher led the way with 2 hits, one being a solo homerun in the 6^th inning, marking the first of his career.  All 9 starters in the Falcons lineup recorded at least 1 hit in the game.  

On the weekend, Coach Dulin said, "This weekend was a great way come back after a disappointing 0-2 start in South Carolina.  After the 0-2 weekend, the team knew what they needed to get better at and worked hard to get better.  Truett-McConnell College is a team that is much better than their record.  They have played a tough schedule and have put themselves in position to win in almost every game they have played.  I am encouraged by what I saw out of our guys this weekend, but there is more work to be done.  The next road trip will be a battle throughout the week and this weekend should serve as motivation to want to continue to get better."

After the weekend, the Falcons record is now at 4-2.

NEXT UP-

Fisher Baseball travels to Texas for their annual spring trip on March 7 and opens up a 13-game week on March 8.   The Falcons will open up the week with a 4-game set with NCAA Division II power house, St. Edward's University in Austin, TX.  The team will then stay in Austin for a 5-game set with NAIA opponent, Huston-Tillotson University.   Following the 5-game set, the team will travel to Victoria, Texas, to play a 4-game set with A.I.I. Conference rivals, the University of Houston at Victoria.