3/8/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Softball team will look to push their record over .500 for the first time this year, when they take on the Rochester CTC Yellowjackets in a pair of doubleheader games on Tuesday, March 8^th, and Wednesday, March 9^th, at the Cal Ripken Experience Softball Complex in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
 
Tuesday's doubleheader starts with the first game at 3:00pm ET, and the second to follow at 5:00pm ET. Wednesday's games are scheduled for 1:00pm ET and 3:00pm ET.
 
About the Falcons
Lackawanna College (2-2) enters the game on a two-game winning streak, having knocked off the Bay College Norse in a pair of one-run games this past Monday. The Falcons won their first game on Monday 4-3, thanks to a four-run outburst in the first inning. Tess Ruschman picked up the win, dancing in-and-out of trouble throughout her seven innings pitched, scattering ten hits and three runs, while striking out three batters. Emma McNally was 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Catarena Sommers went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. The second game ended 7-6, with the Falcons overcoming a 5-3 deficit with a three-run sixth inning to come out with the win. Madison McVicar was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, while Kira Ryan also went 2-for-4 with a walk. Catarena Sommers drove in a run, going 1-for-3, and Jennifer Wolak also went 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI. Megan Fritz picked up the win, going the distance and giving up nine hits and six runs, but getting the outs when she and the Falcons needed them to win.
 
Through their first four games, the Falcons are hitting a combined .286 from the plate, and have a .699 OPS as a team. Lackawanna College has seven extra base hits, including six doubles this year. The Falcons have five stolen bases, and have drawn 19 walks already this year. The Lackawanna pitching staff has a combined 4.34 ERA, giving up 40 hits and 25 runs, 18 earned, in 29 innings so far this year. Lackawanna has struck out 19 batters, and given up 12 walks. Opponents have a .303 batting average against the Falcons this year. The Falcon defense has 13 combined errors in four games.
 
Madison McVicar leads the squad at the plate with a .429 batting average this year. McVicar leads the Falcons in OB% (.529) is second on the team in OPS (1.100). McVicar has a team-high six hits, two of which have been doubles, and has driven in three runs so far this year. Madison has recorded a hit in all four games so far this season, with a pair of two-hit games already to her credit.
 
Kira Ryan is second on the team in batting average at .385. Ryan has a .429 OB% and a .814 OPS. She's also second on the team with five hits so far this year. Kira went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored against Bay College in the Falcons' 11-10 loss in extras on Sunday. She went 2-for-4 in her last game against Bay College.
 
Emma McNally is fourth on the team with a .357 batting average, but she's first with a 1.114 OPS, and third on the team with a .471 OB%. McNally has five hits, and leads the team with three extra base hits, including the lone triple so far this year for the Falcons. She's driving in three runs, and leads the team in slugging at .643. Emma was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple in the 11-10 loss on Sunday, and followed that up by going 3-for-4 with a double in the 4-3 win over Bay College on Monday.
 
Jennifer Wolak is hitting .375, good for third on the team so far this year. She's drawn a pair of walks, and has an OB% of .500, good for second on the squad. Her .875 OPS is third on the team. Wolak went 2-for-5 against Bay College in the 11-10 loss on Sunday, and followed that up with a 1-for-2 showing in the 7-6 win on Monday.
 
Meghan Fritz has two starts on the year, going 1-1 so far this year. Fritz, in 12 innings of work, has allowed 15 hits and struck out six batters. She's given up ten runs, eight earned, and walked four batters. Her ERA is 4.67, and opponents are hitting .294 against her this year. She started and went seven innings in the last game for the Falcons, a 7-6 win over Bay.
 
Tess Ruschman is 1-0 on the year, winning her only start by going seven innings and only giving up three runs, two earned. Ruschman has a 2.00 ERA because of her performance. Opponents are hitting .286 against her this year.
 
MacKayla Quick was tagged with a loss in the second game of the year, but was effective for the Falcons, striking out six batters in five innings of work. Quick gave up three runs in her lone appearance, two of which came in extra innings, where a runner is placed at second base to start the inning. Quick has a 4.20 ERA on the year.
 
Jeff Pittsman enters his eleventh season at the helm of the Falcons program. After some early growing pains when he took over in 2012, coach Pitt overhauled the Falcons program, turning it into a Region XIX contender year-in, and year-out. The Falcons had four straight seasons of 20+ wins, starting in 2016, and might have had another if not for the pandemic shuttering the 2020 season early. Pittsman is a two-time EPAC Coach of the Year, and has been a fixture in local softball circles for year. An NEPA native and Mid Valley HS graduate, Pittsman began his coaching career in football with the Mid Valley program, and other various schools around the area, before transitioning into coaching softball at the travel-team level. Eventually, his credentials helped him land the job with Lackawanna College, where he took over a team with barely enough players to safely compete, and steadily built the program into a winner.
 
About The Opponents
Rochester CTC comes into the contest on a two-game losing streak, and at just 2-6 overall this season. They were idle yesterday, and were last in action on Sunday, when they lost a pair of games to Henry Ford CC by scores of 10-1 and 10-6, respectively.
 
As a team, the Yellowjackets are averaging just under four runs per contest, while giving up over eight runs per game this year. In four of their first eight games, a team has scored ten or more runs against the Yellowjackets. Opponents have hit 16 extra base hits, including ten doubles, and are averaging .351 against the Rochester pitching staff. Teams have drawn 28 walks, and successfully stolen 23 bases so far this year.
 
Rochester is hitting around .297 as a team, with ten extra base hits, including three homeruns through their first eight games. The Yellowjackets have drawn 12 walks, and struck out 32 combined times so far this year. The pitching staff has a combined ERA of 6.59, and have given up 66 runs, 43 earned, in 45.2 combined innings so far this year, to go with 73 hits to the opposition.
 
Payton Fox is the leader at the plate for the Yellowjackets, hitting a team-high .520, and also leading Rochester in OPS (1.440), OBP (.520), slugging (.920), total hits (13), extra base hits (4), homeruns (2), and RBIs (5). Fox has recorded a hit in every game this year, including a 3-for-3 performance against Gogebic, where she hit two triples and drove in a pair of runs to help the Yellowjackets win 10-2. She was 3-for-4 with a run scored in her last game, a 10-6 loss to Henry Ford CC.
 
Jamee Norland is second on the team in hits this year (8) and is hitting around .381 on the year. She's second on the team in OBP (.435) and is tied for second on the Yellowjackets with four RBIs this year. She's also drawn a pair of walks. Norland went 3-for-3 against Bismarck State in the first game of the year, driving in a pair of runs in the 7-3 loss. She was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in the 10-6 loss to Henry Ford.
 
Kelsey Grunewald is second on Rochester with a .389 batting average, and second on the team with a .500 slugging percentage. Grunewald has hit a triple this year, and has driving in four runs this year. She's also drawn a pair of walks, and has stolen two bases in seven games for the Yellowjackets this year. Grunewald's best game this year was her last one, where she was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, a triple, and an RBI against Henry Ford.
 
Isabelle Hahn is a .261 hitter, and has a triple and the other homerun for the Rochester offense this year. Hahn has six hits in her eight games of action, putting her at fourth on the squad. Hahn, one of the pitchers for the Yellowjackets, had back-to-back two-hit games for Rochester to start the year, but has only recorded hits in one other game since then. She's 0-for-6 in her last two combined games. She was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a triple against Bay College in a 6-5 win.
 
The pitching staff is helmed by Tarrin Stephans, who has made five appearances and started two games this year for the Yellowjackets. Stephans, who is 1-1 on the year, has pitched 14 innings this year, allowing 25 hits and 18 runs, 11 earned, while striking out five batters. She has a 5.50 ERA on the year. She earned the win pitching 1.2 innings in relief against Bay College, not surrendering a hit. She started the last game against Henry Ford, going four innings and giving up seven hits and six runs, four earned. She didn't record a decision in that game.
 
Hahn is the pitcher with the second-most innings pitched, going 13.1 so far this season. She's 0-2 in her four appearances and two starts. Hahn has given up 22 hits and surrendered 18 runs, 15 earned, while striking out seven batters and walking 12. She has a 7.88 ERA this year. Hahn last started a game against Bay College, where she went 5.1 innings, giving up seven hits and five runs, while striking out five and walking four. She last pitched in relief in the 10-6 loss to Henry Ford, going two innings and giving up four runs on two hits, walking four batters.
 
The other pitcher on staff for the Yellowjackets is Bella Mehrkens, who has started three games this year and pitched a combined 12 innings. Mehrkens is 1-2 on the season, and has given up 13 hits, while allowing 19 runs, 11 earned, and has struck out a team-high 13 batters. She has a 6.42 ERA. She was credited with the win against Gogebic CC, going five innings and giving up just two hits and two runs while striking out nine in the 10-2 victory. Mehrkens went 3.1 innings in her last game, a start against Henry Ford on Sunday, where she gave up four hits and eight runs, while walking five batters and striking out just two. The Yellowjackets lost that game 10-1.
 
The head softball coach for Rochester is Jaimi Stejskal. Stejskal is in her first season at the helm for the Yellowjackets, as she was hired back in June of last year. Stejskal took the reins of a program that was a combined 15-15 in the two "COVID" years, and hasn't had a true winning season since 2016. Stejskal graduated from Macalester College, where she was a four-year starter. Upon graduation in 1999, she was immediately hired as the lead assistant coach. After three years at her alma mater, she moved on to become the head softball coach at Viterbo University. She eventually left coaching at the college level to move back to the Rochester area, where she coached at the youth level for the last 14 years.
 
Game Information
The first game of Tuesday's doubleheader will start at 3:00pm ET. The second game is scheduled for 5:00pm ET.  The Falcons and Yellowjackets are scheduled to meet again on Wednesday, March 9^th for another doubleheader of action, starting at 1:00pm ET.
 
There will be a video livestream available for all four 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.
 
The Falcons will have one more doubleheader in South Carolina on Thursday, March 10^th, when they take on the Henry Ford CC Hawks, scheduled for an 11:00am ET start to game one.