3/19/22
 
SB: Falcons Offense Struggles In Doubleheader Loss At Hagerstown
 
HAGERSTOWN, MD – The Falcons couldn't get the offense up and running in their two games on Saturday, and subsequently struggled in their match-ups against both Hagerstown CC and SUNY Corning, dropping both games of the doubleheader on Saturday morning in Hagerstown, Maryland.
 
Lackawanna College dropped their first game on Saturday to the host Hagerstown CC Hawks, 13-2, in five innings, and then lost to SUNY Corning later in the day, 6-2. The Falcons stranded a combined 36 base runners, and were just 12-for-47 on the day, while their opponents piled up 19 runs on 23 hits.
 
Game One Recap: Hagerstown CC 13 – 2 Lackawanna College (5 Innings)
The host Hawks of Hagerstown CC took an early lead and never looked back, pounding out 16 hits and scoring 13 runs on the way to a five-inning 13-2 victory on Saturday morning over Lackawanna College.
 
The Falcons (7-7) struggled to get their bats firing, going 5-for-20 and stranding 12 runners on the day. Madison McVicar went 2-for-3 with two hits, one being a two-run homerun, and a run scored for the Falcons. Glover was 1-for-2 with a run scored, and both Emma McNally Skylynn Gilligan each went 1-for-3. Tess Ruschman received the loss, going just three innings and giving up ten hits and seven runs, all earned. Jennifer Wolak came on in relief in the fourth inning, but didn't fare much better, giving up six hits and six runs in 1.1 innings pitched.
 
Early on, the Falcons put the pressure on the Hawks when Lackawanna led the game off with a single and a walk, putting two on with nobody out. Hagerstown (6-3) responded with a ground out and a pair of strikeouts to end the inning. The Hawks had a pair of two-out singles in the bottom frame, but Ruschman got a strikeout to end the inning, keeping things scoreless after one.
 
Things were quiet until the bottom of the third, when the home side finally pounced. A lead-off single, followed by an RBI-triple, and then an RBI-single, made it 2-0 before the Falcons could get the first out of the inning. A two-run homer followed that, putting the Hawks up 4-0 after three.
 
The Hawks started the bottom of the fourth with three straight singles, the last a seeing-eye ground ball up the middle to make it 5-0, Hagerstown. That chased Ruschman from the contest, and activated Wolak in the circle. Wolak came in with runners on first and second and nobody out, which quickly turned into runners on second and third with nobody out. Wolak induced a ground ball for the first out, but a run scored, making it 6-0. The next batter doubled to right field, scoring another run and making it 7-0, Hawks in front. Hagerstown would add another double, this time, the two-run variety, to make it 9-0 after four innings.
 
The top of the fifth was where the Falcons would find some offense. Savannah Glover hit a one-out double to left to put a runner on, and she came home courtesy of Madison McVicar's two-run blast to left field, making it 9-2, Hawks, after the top of the fifth.
 
Unfortunately for Lackawanna College, Hagerstown scored four more in the bottom of the fifth, thanks to a game-ending grand slam with one-out, triggering the sportsmanship rule and ending the game at 13-2.
 
Game Two Recap: SUNY Corning 6 – 2 Lackawanna College



The Falcon bats continued to struggle in game two of their pair, as the SUNY Corning Red Barons used a four-run first inning to grab a lead they'd never surrender, on their way to a 6-2 win over Lackawanna College.
 
The Falcons (7-8) were wasteful in game two on the day, drawing seven walks but stranding 24 base runners on a 7-for-27 showing at the plate. Catarena Sommers was the lone Falcon to get more than a hit, going 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk, while Savannah Glover was 1-for-2 with an RBI-double and a pair of walks. MacKayla Quick was tabbed for the loss, not getting out of the first inning after giving up three hits and four runs in just a third of an inning pitched. Meghan Fritz came on in relief and pitched one of her better games, going 6.2 innings and only giving up four hits and two runs while striking out a season-high eleven batters.
 
Disaster struck for Lackawanna College right away in the top of the first inning. SUNY Corning (1-4) had the bases loaded within the first three batters, and got a two-run double to make it 2-0, just like that. The next batter reached on an error on a line drive, allowing two more runs to cross and make it 4-0, Corning, still with nobody out. Later, still in the first, Quick walked a batter to make it first and second, still with one out, when Fritz was called upon to clean up. Fritz pitched around a walk of her own with a strikeout and a fielder's choice to end the inning.
 
Lackawanna College had their own chances in the bottom half, when a pair of walks was followed up by an Emma McNally single to the right side to load the bases with nobody out. A pair of strikeouts threatened to end the scoring threat, but Sommers drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home a run, making it 4-1. Wolak came up with two out, but struck out swinging to strand the runners and end the inning.
 
After Fritz struck out the side in the top of the second, Kira Ryan drew a walk and stole second, putting a runner in scoring position with two outs. Glover brought her home with a line drive double to left, making it 4-2, Corning. McNally went down on strikes to end the possible scoring threat.  
 
Fritz pitched around trouble in the top of the third, striking a batter out and picking off a base runner trying to steal third base in the inning, but the Falcons were held without much going on in the bottom of the third. Fritz pitched around a single in the top of the fourth, and the Falcons had another opportunity in the bottom frame. Wolak led off with a walk, and Kira Ryan singled to put a pair on with nobody out. Wolak and Ryan each advanced to second and third to put runners in scoring position with nobody out, but the Falcons couldn't convert, striking out and lining out to put two down. Glover walked to load the bases, but McNally popped out to strand the runners.
 
The Falcons, after Fritz wen 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth, had another chance in the bottom of the fifth, when Skylynn Gilligan (double) and Catarena Sommers (single) each got aboard with one-out. Wolak drew a walk, loading the bases with just one away. Again, the Falcons failed to convert, as a fielder's choice, followed by a strikeout, ended the scoring threat, stranding the bases loaded for the second straight half inning.
 
Corning added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, thanks to a pair of Falcon errors, making it a 6-2 Red Baron lead. The Falcons would manage only one hit, a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh from Sommers, the rest of the way, as the Red Barons closed things out for the win.
 
The Falcons are still in Hagerstown and will face both the Red Barons and the Hawks on Sunday, March 20^th. They'll take on SUNY Corning at 11:00am ET, and then the host Hagerstown CC Hawks at 1:00pm ET.