3/25/22
 
SYRACUSE, NY – The Lackawanna College Softball team split their doubleheader on Friday in upstate New York, falling to SUNY Herkimer 8-4 in game one, and then beating the host SUNY Onondaga 17-3 in five innings in game two at the SUNY Onondaga Softball Complex.  
 
Game One Recap: SUNY Herkimer 8 – 4 Lackawanna College
Lackawanna College committed seven errors, leading to five unearned runs, and eight runs overall, as the SUNY Herkimer Generals took an 8-4 victory in the first game of the doubleheader for Lackawanna on Friday afternoon.
 
The Falcons (9-9) fell behind 4-0 after one, and 8-0 after the top of the fourth, as they couldn't find a way to climb back into their contest against the Generals. They managed to score two runs in the bottom of the fourth and two more in the bottom of the seventh, but it was too little, too late. Catarena Sommers led the way, going 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Emma McNally was 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two walks for the Falcons. Meghan Fritz took the loss for the Falcons, going five innings, giving up six hits and eight runs, three earned, while striking out two and walking three. Tess Ruschman came on in relief to pitch two innings, giving up a hit while striking out a batter and walking another.
 
Things went wrong almost right away for Lackawanna College. Herkimer (6-5) got a lead-off single, followed by three straight errors, which helped the Generals score a pair to go up 2-0. A one-out RBI single made it 3-0, then another error allowed another run to come home, putting the Falcons in a 4-0 hole, still with one out. Eventually, Fritz got the two outs she needed to get out of the top of the first.
 
The Falcons went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first, and the Generals threatened in the top of the second when they had runners on second and third with one out, but a line out, followed by a pop out in foul territory, ended the scoring threat, keeping the General lead to 4-0.
 
The Falcons put runners on first and second in the bottom of the second, but a ground out, followed by a pair of strikeouts helped Herkimer get out of the inning, still ahead 4-0. The Generals would tack on another run in the top of the third, after a two-out single, followed by a stolen base and an error, which brought another run in that made it 5-0, Generals.
 
The Generals would strike again in the top of the fourth inning. A one-out walk, followed by a steal, put a runner in scoring position. Herkimer would quickly follow with a homerun to center field, extending the lead to 7-0. A triple, followed by a sacrifice to left field, extended the lead further to 8-0, Generals. In the bottom frame, Lackawanna College would finally get things going at the plate. A one-out walk from McNally, followed by a Skylynn Gilligan, put two on. Catarena Sommers brought home McNally with an RBI single, and MacKayla Quick followed that up with a liner to right that the outfielder dropped, allowing Gilligan to score on the error and cut the lead to 8-2. The Falcons had the bases loaded with two outs, but a ground out ended the scoring threat.  
 
Fritz pitched around an error in the top of the fifth, and the Falcons tried to put more on the board in the bottom half. A two-out double from McNally put a runner on, and Gilligan walked to make it first and second with two outs. Herkimer would catch a break, however, when Sommers was called out at the plate because of batter interference, ending the inning and stranding the runners.  
 
Tess Ruschman took over in the top of the sixth inning, pitching around a walk and a single to hold the Generals in check, but the Falcons were unable to do anything in the bottom frame.
 
The next action would come in the bottom of the seventh, with the Falcons still trailing 8-2, and needing runs to extend the game. Fritz took a lead-off walk, and then stole second base, putting a runner on second with one out. A ground out put two away, but McNally and Gilligan drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with two out. Sommers came up and singled in a pair of runs, cutting the lead to 8-4. Jennifer Wolak followed with a two-out single to load the bases again, but a strikeout finally ended things, giving the Generals the win over Lackawanna College.   
 
Game Two Recap: Lackawanna College 17 – 3 SUNY Onondaga (5 Innings)



After their struggles to score in game one, the Falcons seemingly took out their frustrations on Onondaga in game two, scoring ten runs in the first inning, and eventually piling up enough runs to trigger the sportsmanship rule with a 17-3 victory in five innings on Friday afternoon at the SUNY Onondaga Softball Complex.
 
Lackawanna College (10-9) pounded out 18 hits on the afternoon, with eight different batters ending the game with two or more hits. The Falcons pounded out 14 extra base hits, including eleven doubles, and were led by Meghan Fritz, who went 3-for-5 with three runs, two doubles, a triple, and an RBI. Emma McNally was 2-for-4 with a homerun, a double, and five RBIs, while Skylynn Gilligan went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Madison McVicar and Catarena Sommers also added a pair of doubles, each. MacKayla Quick went five innings to pick up the win, allowing four hits and three runs, one earned.  
 
Fritz got the game started in the top of the first inning, ripping a triple to right field to immediately put a run on third base. Savannah Glover drove her home with a double to left field, making it 1-0, Falcons. Glover stole third, and then McVicar doubled her home with a shot to right, making it 2-0. After an out, the Falcons got an RBI single from Gilligan, followed by a double from Sommers. A strikeout made it two outs, Falcons still ahead 3-0, and it looked like the Lazers from Onondaga might get out of the inning, but Jennifer Wolak reached on an error, bringing home a pair of runs to make it 5-0. Two more doubles, one from Balavage and the second of the inning from Fritz, made it 7-0, and Glover got on with an RBI single to make it 8-0. Later, still with two outs and runners on the corners, Emma McNally doubled to center field, clearing the bases and making it 10-0, Falcons.
 
Onondaga (1-7) would get one back in the bottom of the second inning. A walk and an error put two on, and another error with two outs allowed a run to come across. Another walk loaded the bases, but Quick was able to induce a ground ball to third to get out of trouble.
 
The Falcons got three more runs in the top of the third, after a lead-off double from Fritz, followed by Glover reaching on a hit by pitch, put two runners on. McNally would bring them home when she hit a one-out fly ball to right field, her third homerun of the year, making it 13-1, Falcons.
 
The Lazers would score two more in the bottom of the fourth with one out, but Quick would pitch around trouble to induce a fly out and a strikeout to end the threat and strand a pair of runners. That allowed the Falcons to add more in the top of the fifth, after McVicar lead off with a double, and McNally reached on an error. So, with two one and nobody out, Gilligan came up and singled on a liner to left to score McVicar. Sommers would double McNally home to make it 15-3, and then after Quick hit into a fielder's choice to score Gilligan, Wolak doubled to center field to score Sommers, making it 17-3, Falcons.
 
Quick would pitch around a pair of singles in the bottom of the fifth to close things out for the Falcons, picking up her third win of the season and improving the Falcons to 10-9 on the year.   
 
Lackawanna College will take the rest of the weekend off, as expected bad weather will wipe out their scheduled games with Herkimer and Onondaga. Their next scheduled games are on Wednesday, March 30^th, when they travel to New Rochelle, NY to play the Monroe College Mustangs in a doubleheader. The first game is scheduled for 2:30pm, and the second for 4:30pm ET.