3/9/22
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College Baseball team looks to build on its first taste of victory with another doubleheader on Wednesday, March 9^th, when the Falcons take on PSU New Kensington and Mid Michigan CC at the Cal Ripken Experience Baseball Complex in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
 
The first game, against PSU New Kensington, is set for a 9:00am ET start, while the match-up with Mid Michigan is scheduled for an 11:45am ET start. There will be a video livestream available for both 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.
 
 
About The Falcons
The Falcons (2-4) had scored only eight runs in their first four games entering Tuesday's doubleheader with Mid Michigan and Bay College. It took them just four innings against the Lakers to score nine runs. At the end of the day, the Falcons put 28 runs on the board, getting their offensive swagger back, and looking much more like the team that made the College World Series in two of the last three years.  
 
Lackawanna had a bad start against Mid Michigan, allowing five runs in the first inning, but the Birds answered quickly in the second, thanks to a three-run blast from George Castro. Castro would strike again in the third to give the Falcons the lead for good, and Daniel Keenan and Christian Rush would add homers for good measure, as the Falcons pounded out six extra base hits, and 15 hits overall. Samuel Daniels pitched three innings of relief to pick up the win for the Falcons, striking out eight batters and not allowing any hits.
 
Game two somehow went even better for the Falcons, as Lackawanna College racked up eleven runs on nine hits in the first inning, alone, on their way to a 15-5 win in five innings over Bay College. Spencer Butz hit a three-run inside the park homer in the first inning, while Cody Fleischer went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs and two RBIs. Marc DeNunzio went four innings, giving up just two runs and striking out seven batters, for the win.
 
Cody Fleischer is currently the team leader with a .467 batting average, leading the Falcons in hits (7), OPS (1.38), and runs scored (6). Fleischer is also tied for the team-lead in RBIs (5) and stolen bases (2) so far this season.  
 
Eli Riley is second on the Falcons with a .429 batting average through three of the six games played so far this year. Riley has hit in three of his seven at-bats, driving in one RBI so far this year.
 
Christian Rush has gotten off to a fast start, and he's third on the team with a .385 batting average, and an impressive 1.352 OPS. Rush had three extra base hits, including two homeruns, and is tied for the team lead with 5 RBIs so far this year. He leads the team in slugging at .923 on the year.  
 
Quinn Hanafin is fourth on the team with a .313 batting average, and is one of five players with five or more hits through six games this year. Hanafin has a pair of doubles on the year, and has a .467 OB%. Hanafin has recorded a hit in each of his five games this year.
 
David Curreri has a .625 batting average in the three games he's seen action, going 5-for-8 in his plate appearances. He's got a 1.25 OPS on the year.
 
George Castro is up to .235 on the year, but helped himself out with two homers against Mid Michigan, totaling five RBIs for the game.
 
Kyle Scott, recovering from injury, pitched just three innings over the weekend, but was stellar in his limited action, striking out six batters and giving up just two hits in his lone appearance against Florence-Darlington.
 
Samuel Daniels is now 1-0 on the year, pitching 4.2 innings, including three in relief to pick up the win against Mid Michigan. Daniels has not allowed a run or a hit, and has struck out 10 batters in his appearances so far this season.
 
Jason Carpenter went 3.1 innings in his start against Florence-Darlington on Saturday, giving up five runs on three hits, but only two earned runs, while striking out two batters.  
 
Marc DeNunzio got the win against Bay College, and lowering his overall ERA to 9.00, thanks to his four innings of work, where he gave up seven hits and two runs, while striking out seven batters.
 
Coach Mike McCarry enters his fourth season at the helm for Lackawanna College. McCarry has helped elevate the Falcon program in his short time, guiding Lackawanna to a pair of NJCAA World Series appearances in his first three seasons, one of which was shortened and ultimately cancelled by the COVID-19 pandemic. Before his time at Lackawanna, McCarry was the pitching coach at Stephen F. Austin and LaSalle Universities. As a pitching coach with both schools, he had multiple pitchers sign professional contracts, and, especially in his time at LaSalle, McCarry brought four NJCAA All-Americans to be a part of the Explorer program. Before that, McCarry spent his time in baseball in the Philadelphia Suburbs in Bucks County with Central Bucks West and the Colts Collegiate Summer Team. McCarry is a Keystone College graduate, where he played baseball for Jamie Shevchik and the vaunted Giants program. McCarry is 80-38 in his career at Lackawanna College.   
 
About PSU New Kensington
The first opponent of the day will be the Penn State New Kensington Nittany Lions, out of New Kensington, PA, just northeast of Pittsburgh. The Lions are 2-2 on the year, with a pair of wins against Bay College in Myrtle Beach to their name.
 
The Nittany Lions got a day of rest on Tuesday, having split a doubleheader of games with Bay College (10-4 win) and Henry Ford CC (15-10 loss). The Nits had a 7-3 loss to Rochester CTC on Sunday, March 6^th, before beating Bay College 12-9 to pick up their first win of the year.
 
The Nittany Lions return a fair amount of players from last year's team, including leading hitter Reise Matson, who averaged .377 last season. He had a team-high 23 hits in 22 games, along with eleven RBIs and five doubles, both first on the squad.
 
Tallon Auth also returns to Kensington this season. Last year, Auth led the team with three homeruns, and was second on the team with ten RBIs on the year. He drew a team-high eleven walks, and had seven extra base hits throughout the season.
 
AJ Collins also comes back for the Nittany Lions. Collins was fourth on the team with eleven hits last year, and drove in five RBIs, while also drawing eight walks, good for third on the team.
 
Max Oliveri, who hit .306 last year, also returns. Oliveri had five extra base hits, including the only triple for the Nittany Lions last year, and he drove in seven RBIs, good for fourth on the team.
 
Mario Gomez and Tim Morris threw the most innings for a staff that had a 12.82 ERA last year. Gomez gave up 38 hits and 38 runs, 34 earned, in 23 innings pitched last year, walking a team-high 19 batters. Morris was a little cleaner, giving up 22 runs on 37 hits in his 23 innings of work. First on the team amongst pitchers with more than five appearances.
 
AJ Collins started five games last year, most on the team. He gave up 39 hits and 31 runs, 27 earned, in 21.2 innings pitched, while walking 18 batters last year. He struck out a team-high 11 batters. Reise Matson started four games last year, pitching one complete game. He gave up 47 hits and 34 runs, 32 earned, in 22 innings of work last year.  
 
The head coach PSU New Kensington is Matt Sprinkle, now in his third season. Sprinkle was hired in June 2019 to lead the program, after spending four years at Chatham University, helping to start the baseball program there. Sprinkle has spent time in the area, with a stint at Pittsburgh Central Catholic as an assistant, and coaching as an assistant with the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Sprinkle was also highly involved with the Keystone State Games, coaching Team Western PA.      
 
About Mid Michigan
The second opponent will be Mid Michigan, who the Falcons beat on Tuesday by a 13-6 score. The Lakers are 5-3, and coming off a loss to Rochester CTC, 13-8.   
 
The Lakers program was officially added as a varsity sport in 2018, with their first official season coming in 2019, so this is only the fourth season for the program.
 
Mid Michigan returns Andrew Charters this season. Charters was second on the Lakers last year with 20 hits, walking a team-high ten times last year, and hitting a team-high five doubles. A shortstop, Charters helped turn six double-plays last year.
 
The Lakers also return their power threat, Cam Steeves. Steeves led the Lakers in homeruns (3), extra base hits (6), and RBIs (14). Steeves also had a team-high 34 strikeouts last year.
 
Jimmy Pierce returns in the rotation for the Lakers, having pitched a team-high 31.2 innings last year. He struck out 39 batters last season, and had an ERA of 5.40. Trevor Crawford also comes back, having pitched 17.2 innings last year, striking out 14 batters last year.
 
The head coach for Mid Michigan is Scott Pickens, now in his 4^th year at the helm. Pickens is a fixture in baseball circles in Michigan, having been a standout catcher at Central Michigan in the early 2000's, before transitioning to a professional career in the Frontier League for a few seasons. He spent eight seasons as a bullpen catcher in the Detroit Tigers organization, including being with the team for both of their World Series appearances in 2006 and 2012. Pickens has been coaching youth baseball in Michigan ever since.      
 
Game Information
Lackawanna College will open with Penn State New Kensington at 9:00am ET on Wednesday, March 9^th, from the Cal Ripken Experience Baseball Complex in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The second game against Mid Michigan will follow at 11:45am ET that same day.
 
There will be a video livestream available for both 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. You can also follow the Lackawanna College Baseball Twitter account for live updates HERE.