3/9/22
 
MYRTLE BEACH, SC – The Lackawanna College Softball team earned a key doubleheader sweep on Wednesday afternoon, knocking off the Rochester CTC Yellowjackets in a pair of games at the Cal Ripken Experience Softball Complex in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
 
The Falcons scored 19 runs on 24 hits in the two games, winning the first match-up 9-1 in five innings, and winnings the second game 10-3.
 
Game One Recap: Lackawanna College 9 – 1 Rochester CTC (5 Innings)
The Falcons scored multiple runs in four of the five innings played, building an early lead behind effective pitching from Meghan Fritz, and solid defense from her teammates, as Lackawanna College came away with a 9-1 win in five innings.
 
Lackawanna College (4-3) was effective from the dish, getting eleven hits as a team, along with five walks. Skylynn Gilligan went 3-for-3 with a run scored, while Emma McNally was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Kira Ryan was 1-for-2 with two walks and three RBIs. Meghan Fritz, who picked up her second win of the year in the pitching circle, helped herself at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Fritz pitched all five innings, allowing just four hits and one run, not earned, on two strikeouts and two walks.
 
The Falcons got things started right away in the top of the first, when Kira Ryan drew a one-out walk, and then got to second on a passed ball. After a ground-out put two away, Emma McNally singled to center, scoring Ryan and making it a 1-0 Falcon lead. Lackawanna would add another, when McNally came home on an error to make it 2-0 in the first.
 
The Yellowjackets (3-8) had the bases loaded with just one out in the bottom of the first, but Meghan Fritz induced a fielder's choice groundout to get the force out at home, and then another groundout to end the inning and the scoring threat.
 
Lackawanna would make Rochester pay, as Tess Ruschman and Savannah Glover each got aboard to put two runners on with nobody out. Ruschman came home to score on a wild pitch, and Glover came around to score on another wild pitch to make it 4-0, Falcons in front. Lackawanna had two more runners on before Rochester escaped.
 
After a 1-2-3 inning, Lackawanna College struck again in the top of the third, when the Falcons loaded the bases with two outs. A passed ball scored one run, and a Ryan single through to center plated the other two runners, putting the Falcon lead up to 7-0.
 
Rochester finally struck back in the bottom half of the third, in an inning where the Falcons had three errors. Payton Fox reached on an error, and advanced to second on another error, with just one away. After a strikeout, Fox came around to score on a line drive that was dropped in the outfield, giving the Yellowjackets their first run of the game.
 
Lackawanna College would put the game out of reach and in mercy rule territory in the top of the fifth inning. It started when Savannah Glover drew a leadoff walk, and Meghan Fritz followed with a single. A wild pitch allowed both runners to advance to second and third, with nobody out. Kira Ryan popped out in foul territory, but Glover was able to tag-up and score. A batter later, Madison McVicar grounded out to the pitcher, but the speedy Fritz made it home to extend the lead to 9-1. Fritz would pitch around a pair of singles in the bottom frame to close out the five-inning win, and earn her second win of the year.
 
Game Two Recap: Lackawanna College 10 – 3 Rochester CTC



The Falcons stayed hot at the plate, scoring runs in the first, third, and fourth innings to build a six-run advantage, and then tacked on four more after Rochester finally scored, to put the game out of reach. Catarena Sommers went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, including an RBI triple in the first inning. Madison McVicar went 2-for-2 with two runs scored, and Meghan Fritz was 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Savannah Glover was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored, including a two-run homerun in the bottom of the fifth inning to put an exclamation point on the Falcons' dominance. Tess Ruschman picked up her second win of the year, going five innings, while giving up eight hits and three runs, and only walking one batter.
 
Rochester (3-9) got right to work in the first, and looked to threaten the Falcons right away. After two quick outs, Abigail Scanlan singled and stole second base to put herself in scoring position. After a walk put another runner on, Ruschman got a lineout to right field to end the inning.
 
Lackawanna College (5-3) would cash in on Rochester's inability to score, as Fritz and McVicar got on with singles. Fritz ended up scoring on an Emma McNally sac fly to give the Falcons the lead, and Sommers brought McVicar home with an RBI triple to make it 2-0.
 
Lackawanna College would strike again in the bottom of the third inning, when McVicar hit a two-out single on a liner to third base. McNally followed with a single up the middle, putting two on with two out. Sommers came up and singled to center herself, scoring one run, and Skylynn Gilligan also singled to center, scoring another run, and making it 4-0, Lackawanna.
 
After an empty top half of the fourth, the Falcons put another two-spot on the board. Savannah Glover and Meghan Fritz hit back-to-back doubles, with Fritz driving Glover in, and Fritz stole third base, and then came home on a wild pitch to make it 6-0 for the Falcons.  
 
Rochester CTC finally found some offense in the top of the fifth. A leadoff double, followed by a single, put two runners on with nobody out. An RBI single to left field brought one run home, and a two-out liner to right field scored another pair of runs, making it 6-3 and giving the Yellowjackets some life.  
 
However, Lackawanna, as they seemingly had done in all four games against Rochester, had an answer. The Falcons had two on second and third with one out, when MacKayla Quick singled up the middle to bring home one run. Gwen Balavage would score on an error by the pitcher, making it 8-3, Falcons. Savannah Glover then got a hold of a pitch and shot a laser out to center field for her first homer of the year, a two-run shot that made it 10-3.  
 
The Falcons made a change at pitcher to start the sixth, when Ruschman gave way for Jennifer Wolak in the circle. The first batter reached on an error on the infield, but Wolak worked around that to retire the side. The Falcons had something brewing in the bottom half of the inning, but an offensive interference call on the base paths killed off any extra runs they might have been able to add.
 
Wolak came back out for the seventh inning, and retired the side in order, inducing a ground out to Sommers at third, who tossed across the dirt to Gilligan at first to end the game, and give the Falcons their fifth win overall, and third straight.  
 
Next up for Lackawanna College is three straight games against Henry Ford College out of Detroit, Michigan. The Hawks are undefeated on the season at 5-0. Both teams will meet in a doubleheader on Thursday, March 10^th, with the first game starting at 11:00am ET, and the second game scheduled for a 1:00pm ET start at the Cal Ripken Experience Softball Complex in Myrtle Beach. Both teams will play an addition game on Friday, March 11^th, at 1:00pm ET in Myrtle Beach.
 
There will be a video livestream available for all three games via Playsight. It is a subscription-based service, and there is a monetary cost to access live and on-demand video streams. You can find that site, along with info on how to join and watch, via this link HERE.