4/2/22
 
RANDOLPH, NJ – The Lackawanna College baseball team stayed unbeaten in Region XIX play with two outstanding performances on the road, knocking off County College of Morris in their two games on Saturday afternoon in New Jersey. The Falcons got a one-hit gem from Kyle Scott to win game one, 12-1, and then overcame a late Morris rally to score four runs in extra innings to win game two, 11-7.
 
Lackawanna College (12-7, 4-0) had 30 combined hits in the two games, getting eleven combined extra base hits, including a pair of homeruns, and contributions up and down the lineup.  Quinn Hanafin was 5-for-9 with four RBIs and three runs scored on a triple, a double, and a homer. Eli Riley went 4-for-9 with five RBIs and five runs scored, with a three-run homer and a double. Cody Fleischer also stayed hot, going 5-for-7 with three RBIs and four runs scored. Kyle Scott got the win in game one, going seven strong, giving up just one hit, a homerun, while striking out 14 batters. Daniel Keenan got the win in game two, pitching 2.1 innings in relief, allowing just one run to score, pitching around four walks to get four strikeouts.
 
Game One Recap: Lackawanna College 12 – 1 County College of Morris
Kyle Scott finally looked like Kyle Scott, firing a one-hit gem and striking out 14 batters, while the Falcons put 12 runs on the board, nine of which came in the final three innings, to take a 12-1 victory in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday afternoon against County College of Morris.
 
The Falcons (11-7, 3-0) piled up 14 hits throughout the first game, getting hits from everybody in the original lineup. Eli Riley was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, coming on a three-run homer, and four runs scored, while Quinn Hanafin was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Christian Rush went 1-for-2 with four RBIs and a run scored, three RBIs coming on a bases-clearing triple.
 
Lackawanna wasted no time in the top of the first, as Spencer Butz led the game off with a double, and Cody Fleischer got on base with a walk to put two on with nobody out. Eli Riley immediately struck, charging a ball into the outfield over the fence, giving the Falcons an immediate 3-0 lead. A pair of back-to-back singles had the Falcons threatening for more, and the bases were loaded with just one out, but a force out at home, followed by a fly out, ended the inning before the Falcons could add to the lead.
 
Kyle Scott took the mound in the bottom of the first for the Falcons, and was dominant from the start, striking out the side, two on swinging strikes, to retire the side in order. He'd do it again in the bottom frame, pitching around a walk with three more strikeouts to keep the Falcons ahead at 3-0 after two.
 
The Falcons couldn't get anything going in the meantime, and, Scott, after striking out another pair of batters and retiring the order in the bottom of the third, entered the bottom of the fourth with a 3-0 lead. That's when the Titans (10-5, 2-1) would finally get a run, thanks to a one-out homer that made it 3-1. Scott would bounce back with a fly out and a ground out to get out of the inning.
 
The Falcons struck back in the top of the fifth, when a lead-off single from Riley, followed by a Hanafin walk, but a pair of runners on with nobody out. Daniel Keenan stepped up with an RBI single to score Riley, making it 4-1, Falcons. A single loaded the bases, and Rush sac flied to center, getting the RBI while recording the inning's first out. Giovanni Lopez would sacrifice himself with a groundout to put runners on second and third with two out, and Ranciel Ventura would strike with a big two-out single, scoring a pair of runners and upping the Falcon lead to 7-1.
 
After Scott retired the Titans in order in the bottom of the fifth, the Falcons got things going again in the top of the sixth, when Fleischer reached on a single, followed by a Riley hit by pitch and a Hanafin single, loading the bases with no outs. A pair of strikeouts threatened to end the inning early, but Rush hit a bases-clearing triple to score three runners, giving the Falcons a 10-0 advantage. Lopez would bring Rush home with an RBI single of his own, making it an 11-0 Falcon lead after the top of the sixth.
 
Scott struck out the side, all swinging, in the bottom of the sixth, and the Falcons tacked on another run thanks to a Hanafin triple in the top of the seventh, before Scott again shut the door, striking out the side in order to end the game with 14 K's and just the one hit and run allowed. Scott improves to 2-0 on the season, and lowers his season ERA to 1.80.
 
Game Two Recap: Lackawanna College 11 – 7 County College of Morris (8 Innings)



The Falcons wasted a 7-3 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, but rallied to put up four runs in the eighth, giving themselves just enough of a cushion to come away with a big 11-7 win in extras, in game two of the doubleheader at Morris on Saturday afternoon.
 
Lackawanna College (12-7, 4-0) had 16 total hits, getting at least one hit from eight of their nine batters in the lineup, and had seven extra base hits, including five doubles, to keep the pressure on the Titans. Ranciel Ventura was 3-for-4 with a triple, two RBIs, and a run scored, while Cody Fleischer went 4-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored, and Quinn Hanafin was 2-for-5 with a homer, three RBIs, and a run scored. Cameron King didn't get a decision, going 3.1 innings and giving up three runs on three hits with four strikeouts in the start, but it was Daniel Keenan that eventually got the W, his second of the year, as Keenan went 2.1 innings in relief, giving up a run without giving up a hit, thanks to four walks and a wild pitch, but striking out four batters.
 
A quiet first inning from both sides gave way to the Falcons breaking through in the second. After Keenan led the inning off with a single, he advanced to second thanks to a Zachary Walsh sacrifice. Giovanni Lopez brought him in with a huge RBI double, making it 1-0, Falcons. Ranciel Ventura then stepped in with an RBI triple, scoring Lopez to make it 2-0, Falcons. A pair of strikeouts would end the top of the second before the Falcons could push more across. In the bottom of the second, King pitched around a lead-off double, getting a strikeout and a pair of ground outs to keep the Falcons ahead, 2-0.
 
Things stayed quiet until the top of the fourth, when Zachary Walsh climbed aboard with a lead-off double. He'd advance to third on a fly out, and then would come home on an RBI single from Ventura, making it a 3-0 Falcon lead.
 
Morris (10-6, 2-2) would strike back in the bottom frame of the fourth, when a lead-off single, and a passed ball, put a runner on third with nobody out. King got a strikeout, but another passed ball allowed the Titans to push their first run across.  Two walks sandwiched a single, and the Titans had three runners on with just the one out. King was lifted for Marc DeNunzio, and, after a bases loaded walk brought one in, a sac fly to left field tied the game at 3-all. DeNunzio was able to induce a ground out to get out of the inning and limit the damage.
 
Lackawanna answered in the top of the fifth, after a Spencer Butz walk, followed by a Fleischer single, put two on with nobody out. Eli Riley delivered with an RBI single, scoring Butz, and putting Fleischer on third after an error by the third baseman. Hanafin stepped into the batter's box, and launched a three-run blast beyond the outfield, putting the Falcons ahead 7-3, heading into the bottom frame. DeNunzio pitched around a walk, striking out a pair of batters, to keep Lackawanna ahead, 7-3, heading into the sixth.
 
Morris would begin to mount their comeback in the bottom of the sixth, with runners on first and second and one out. An RBI single brought one runner home, and, after a strikeout, a passed ball put runners on second and third with two away. An error on the infield brought two more runners home, bringing the Titans within one at 7-6. After a walk, DeNunzio gave way to Keenan, who got a strikeout to get the Falcons out of the inning, clinging to a one-run lead.
 
A 1-2-3 top of the seventh for Lackawanna gave the Titans one last chance, and they delivered to tie the game. A lead-off walk, followed by an error, put two runners on with nobody out. A fielder's choice made it runners on the corners with one out, but Keenan walked the bases full, still with just the one out. A wild pitch brought the tying run in, and the Titans had the game-winning run just 90 feet from the plate, but Keenan pitched around one more walk with a pair of strikeouts, stranding the bases loaded with his second K, and sending the game to extra-innings.
 
A pop out and a ground out put the Falcons behind the eight-ball early in the eighth inning, but a two-out Ventura single gave Lackawanna life, and a Christian Rush pinch hit single put two on with two out. Butz followed with a single to load the bases, and, finally, the Falcons got what they were looking for, when Fleischer ripped a two-out double into the outfield, scoring all three runners and giving the Falcons a 10-7 lead. Riley doubled Fleischer home, giving the Falcons some extra insurance at 11-7.
 
Keenan came back out in the bottom of the eighth, and, beyond a one-out walk, he didn't give the Titans much to work with, striking out a batter and getting a pair of fly outs to end the inning, and give the Falcons their fourth straight win in Region XIX play.   
 
Lackawanna College gets back to work on Sunday, when they travel back into the Garden State to take on a Region XIX opponent from Division III: The Salem CC Mighty Oaks. The doubleheader against Salem on Sunday, April 3^rd, will begin with the first game at 1:00pm ET at Carneys Point Recreation Field, and the second game will follow at 4:00pm ET.