4/15/22
 
GROTON, CT – The normally potent pop from the Lackawanna College baseball team offense was nullified by some excellent pitching and defense from the UConn Avery Point Pointers, who swept the Falcons on Friday afternoon in Connecticut.  UCAP held the Falcons to just eight combined hits and struck out 22 batters on their way to wins of 4-3 and 4-1, snapping a streak where Lackawanna had won seven of its last eight games. 
 
The Falcons (15-10) came into Friday averaging nearly ten runs, eleven hits, and four extra base knocks per contest, but were held well below their averages in both games by some strong pitching and defense from UConn Avery Point. The Pointers (15-7-1) have won eight of their last ten games, with the win.
 
Game One Recap: UConn Avery Point 4 – 3 Lackawanna College
A game utterly lacking in offense slighted favored the home team, as UConn Avery Point scored four runs in the middle innings to give themselves just enough of a cushion to come away with a 4-3 win in game one of their doubleheader on Connecticut on Friday afternoon.
 
Lackawanna College (15-9) managed just one extra base hit, a triple from Christian Rush, and four hits overall, while striking out eight times as a team. Daniel Helfgott went 1-for-3 with an RBI, while Quinn Hanafin was 1-for-3, and Matthew Stam went 1-for-1 with an RBI in a pinch hit role in the sixth. Jason Carpenter was hit with the loss, going 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on two hits, with two strikeouts and four walks.
 
The Pointers (14-7-1) got a strong start from Alex Mach, who went six innings, giving up three runs on three hits, striking out six batters, while walking five. Zachary Mascaro was 2-for-2 with two runs scored, while three different Pointers were 1-for-3 with an RBI.
 
Things were slow at first, with both teams going 1-2-3 in their halves of the first inning. The Falcons had the first base runner of the game when George Castro drew a one-out walk, but a line-out to short was quickly flipped to first to pick off Castro and end the Falcon half of the second. Carpenter pitched around a lead-off single in the bottom of the second to keep things scoreless.
 
It was Lackawanna who got the breakthrough in the top of the third, when a pair of one-out walks, followed by a Helfgott single, loaded the bases. Cody Fleischer drew a bases loaded walk to bring the first run in. A fielder's choice got the second out at home for two away, and then another fielder's choice ended the Falcon scoring threat. The Pointers got a run back in the bottom of the third, thanks to a one-out RBI single that tied things up at one-apiece. Carpenter got a strikeout to end the inning.
 
A quiet top-half of the fourth for Lackawanna led to a big bottom of the fourth for UCAP. The Pointers got a pair of walks to lead the inning off, putting two on with nobody out. A pop out was the first out, but another walk loaded the bases. Carpenter would exit, and Dan Petrouskie stepped onto the bump for the Falcons. Petrouskie got a pop out for the second out, but an RBI single scored the go-ahead run, and a hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded scored another, making it 3-1, Pointers, after four innings.
 
A Zachary Walsh walk, followed by a pair of steals, put a runner on third with one out for the Falcons in the top of the fifth, and Helfgott brought him home with a sac fly to left, cutting the deficit to 3-2. That would be all the Falcons could get, as a strikeout ended the Falcon half of the fifth soon after. UCAP would get the run right back in the bottom frame, courtesy of a two-out RBI single to stretch the lead back out to 4-2.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Falcons got a one-out single from Quinn Hanafin, who was lifted for a pinch runner in Joseph Wileczek. Wileczek immediately got to second on a passed ball, then got to third, despite a strikeout. With two outs, and Wileczek 90-feet from the plate, Matthew Stam pinch hit for Daniel Keenan, immediately delivering with a single to make it 4-3. That would be all for Lackawanna, as a pop up ended the inning.
 
After the Falcons kept the Pointers off the board in the bottom of the sixth, the Falcons had their last licks in the top of the seventh. A one-out triple from Rush put the game-tying run at third, but a fly out, followed by a game-ending strikeout, closed things out, ending the Falcon threat and handing the win to the hosts.   
 
Game Two Recap: UConn Avery Point 4 – 1 Lackawanna College



Game two was just as frustrating for the Falcons, as the offense remained unable to get on track, managing only four hits and falling, 4-1, in game two of the doubleheader against UConn Avery Point in Connecticut on Friday afternoon.
 
Lackawanna College (15-10) committed three errors on the day, and managed just one extra base hit, a solo homer from Cody Fleischer in the sixth inning, while striking out a combined 14 times. Fleischer was 1-for-3 with a solo HR, while Quinn Hanafin was 1-for-2, and Phil Dull went 1-for-3. Aiden Starn got saddled with the loss, despite a really solid pitching performance, going six innings and giving up four runs on five hits, while striking out a season-high ten batters.  
 
UCAP (15-7-1) got an outstanding outing from Keenan Daigle, pitching seven innings and striking out a season-best 14 batters, allowing just one run on four hits. Zachary Mascaro was 2-for-3 with three RBIs, while only three other Pointers had hits, which was just enough for UConn Avery Point to grab the win.
 
The Falcons got a baserunner right away in the top of the first, when Daniel Helfgott was hit by a pitch. After a pair of outs, Dull climbed aboard with a single, putting two on, but a strikeout ended the Falcon half of the first.
 
After an uneventful few innings, the Falcons had Helfgott as a baserunner once again, when he reached on an error with one out, but a strikeout, followed by Helfgott getting picked off on the basepaths ended the top half of the third. UCAP took advantage in the bottom of the third, when an error allowed a baserunner with one out. Later, with a runner on second and two away, an RBI single scored one, and an error in the outfield on a fly ball allowed another runner to come home, making it 2-0, Pointers.   
 
The Falcons wasted a lead-off single from Hanafin in the top of the fourth, as Daigle struck out the side and stranded the runner. Starn would answer with a 1-2-3 inning of his own, striking out the side in the bottom frame.
 
Things wouldn't go as quickly in the bottom of the fifth, when, after the Falcons went quietly in the top half, UCAP got a lead-off single, followed by an error, to put two on with nobody out. A ground out advanced the runners to second and third, now with one out. A fly out got the Falcons closer to escaping, but a two-run single got the Pointers what they were looking for, stretching their lead to 4-0.
 
Lackawanna College finally broke through with a one-out homer from Fleischer, making it 4-1, UCAP. Later, with Phil Dull on first, the Falcons had a little rally going, as Dull stole second, then got to third on an error from the catcher, but a strikeout ended the threat.  
 
Starn pitched around a two-out single to get the Falcons out of the bottom of the sixth, but Lackawanna was retired in order in the top of the seventh, on three straight strikeouts, giving the Pointers the win and the doubleheader sweep.  
 
The Falcons have no time to rest, as they return home for a big home doubleheader against Delaware Tech CC in Region XIX play. The doubleheader is set for Saturday, April 16^th, with the first game at 2:00pm ET and the second game scheduled to follow at 5:00pm ET. Both games will be played at the Scranton HS baseball field, and there will be a video livestream available via the Lackawanna College Athletics YouTube Channel at www.lackawannafalcons.com/YouTube.