4/22/22
 
LINCROFT, NJ – The Lackawanna College Softball team showed their mettle against a nationally ranked team on Friday, when the Falcons split a doubleheader with #7 Brookdale for the second time this season, this time on the road in New Jersey on Friday afternoon. The Jersey Blues won game one 10-2 in five innings, while the Falcons struck back with a 12-4 win in six innings in game two.
 
Lackawanna College (21-15) managed just four hits in game one, as the Jersey Blues rocketed out to a lead they'd never surrender. Game two was a completely different tale, as the Falcons were the team with the offensive firepower, scoring twelve runs on 14 hits, including six extra base knocks.
 
Game One Recap: Brookdale CC 10 – 2 Lackawanna College (5 Innings)
The host Jersey Blues scored seven runs in the first inning, grabbing a lead that would never truly be threatened, while Gianna Praet held the Falcons to just four hits while striking out nine batters to help Brookdale to a 10-2 win in five innings in game one of the doubleheader between Brookdale and Lackawanna College on Friday afternoon.
 
The Falcons (20-15) could only muster four hits, and left nine batters on-base throughout the game. Meghan Fritz went 1-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Madison McVicar, Catarena Sommers, and Savannah Glover each had one hit, apiece. Tess Ruschman, starting her fifth game of the season, got tagged with the loss, allowing ten runs, eight earned, on eleven hits, with just one strikeout.
 
After a 1-2-3 top of the first, the Jersey Blues (19-6) quickly hit the front in the bottom half, when a lead-off single and a walk were both rewarded with a three run homer to left field, immediately putting Brookdale up 3-0. With one out, the Jersey Blues loaded the bases back up, then advanced the runners on a passed ball to make it 4-0. A one-run double added another run, and, after a pop-out put two outs on the board, another passed ball, followed by an RBI single, made it 7-0, Brookdale, before Ruschman got a ground out to end the first.  
 
Praet pitched around a single in the top of the second, but Ruschman would match her, pitching around an infield error to keep runs off the board. The Falcons got another baserunner in the top of the third when Savannah Glover hit a leadoff single. Praet got two straight outs, but a Glover steal, followed by a Kira Ryan walk put two on with two out. Praet managed to get a swinging strikeout to end the inning.
 
Still trailing 7-0 in the top of the fourth, Emma McNally reached when she was hit by a pitch, but Praet retired the Falcons in order to strand the runner. Ruschman kept things clean on her end, pitching around a single to hold the Jersey Blues at their seven-run margin.
 
Finally, in the top of the fifth, the Falcons found their breakthrough. With one out, Ruschman struck out, but reached on a dropped third strike to put a runner on with one out. She'd put the first bit of pressure on the Jersey Blues with a swipe of second base, and Fritz would deliver with a double to left field, getting the Falcons on the board. Fritz then stole third, putting the Falcons' second run sixty feet from the plate. A strikeout put two away, but a passed ball allowed Fritz to come home, cutting the deficit to 7-2. McVicar hit a single to try to keep the rally going, but a pop out in foul territory ended the top frame.
 
Brookdale would find the resolve to put the game away in the bottom of the fifth inning, after a one-out ground ball turned into an error on the infield, putting a runner on. Then, a double put runners on second and third. Still with one out, an RBI single made it 8-2. A steal of second made it second and third again, still with one out, and Praet herself would deliver the killing blow, smacking a two-run single to right field to make it 10-2, Jersey Blues, activating the sportsmanship rule and ending the game in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Game Two Recap: Lackawanna College 12 – 4 Brookdale CC (6 Innings)


The offense arrived in game two for Lackawanna College, as the Falcons put six runs on the board in the first two innings, then another four runs in the top of the sixth to put the game out of reach, coming away with a 12-4 win in six innings against Brookdale in game two of the doubleheader on Friday afternoon in Jersey.
 
Lackawanna College (21-15) pounded out 14 hits, including five doubles and a triple, and had five players with two or more hits in the contest. Emma McNally led the way with a 3-for-4 showing, driving in three runs and scoring another, while Jennifer Wolak went 3-for-4 with a run scored. Catarena Sommers and MacKayla Quick each went 2-for-4 with a run scored, apiece, while Madison McVicar was 1-for-4 with three RBI and two runs scored, and Meghan Fritz was 2-for-5 with three runs scored. Quick got the win, her tenth of the year, allowing four runs and seven hits in six innings of work, while striking out seven batters and walking six.
 
The Falcons got things going right away in the top of the first inning, when Fritz led the game off with a line drive double to center field, immediately putting the hosts under pressure. Kira Ryan beat out a grounder to third, putting two on, and a ground out advanced both runners, making it second and third with one out. McNally stepped in and put the Falcons on top, doubling to on a liner to center, scoring both Fritz and Ryan to make it 2-0. The Falcons went down with back-to-back ground outs to end the top of the first.  
 
Brookdale (19-7) drew a lead-off walk in the bottom frame, but Quick got a strikeout, followed by a ground out and a fly out to end the inning with little fanfare, firing up the Falcons for the top of the second.
 
Quick got things started herself, singling to left, only to be followed by Wolak, who singled on a liner to right, putting two on with nobody out. Savannah Glover grounded into a fielder's choice to pick off the lead runner, but Fritz reached on an error to load the bases with one away. A strikeout put two away, but McVicar made sure the inning continued, lining a three-run double to center field, blowing things open at 5-0, Falcons. McNally reached on an error on the infield in the next at-bat, scoring McVicar to push the margin to 6-0, before a ground out ended the top of the second.
 
Things were quiet until the bottom of the third, when Brookdale got a much-needed lift with a lead-off solo homer to get the Jersey Blues on the board. Later, with the bases loaded and one out, a ground out to Quick scored one run, and a two-run single brought another pair home, cutting the Falcon lead to 6-4. Quick got a strikeout to end the scoring threat and limit the damage.    
 
The Falcons got a pair of runs back in the top of the fourth, when a one-out double from Fritz put a runner on. With two outs, McVicar reached on an infield error, scoring Fritz. McNally once again came through clutch, hitting a triple to right field to score McVicar and stretch the lead out to 8-4, Falcons. 
 
Both teams were wasteful over the next 1.5 innings, with Brookdale stranding a combined three runners, and the Falcons stranding a pair themselves. Into the top of the sixth, still with an 8-4 advantage, the Falcons got some of their patented two-out magic going. A two-out McNally double, followed by a Skylynn Gilligan RBI single, made it 9-4. Catarena Sommers hit a two-out single to keep things going, and Quick delivered with an RBI single of her own, making it 10-4, Falcons. Wolak walked to load the bases, and, as had been the theme of the day for Brookdale, another Falcon reached on an error, this time Glover, scoring a pair of runs to put the Falcons up 12-4.   
 
Suddenly down to three outs, the Jersey Blues might have had some two-out magic going of their own in the bottom of the sixth, after a walk and a single put two on. Quick would get the final out, however, on a pop out in the infield, ending the game early on the sportsmanship rule, and helping the Falcons earn a split of the series.   
 
Lackawanna College is now 3-1 through their first four games of their eight-game weekend, and the Falcons will look to keep things rolling with a pair of home doubleheaders on the docket. On Saturday, April 23^rd, Lackawanna hosts Raritan Valley CC in Region XIX play, with the first game of the doubleheader at 12:00pm, and the second following at 2:00pm ET. The other doubleheader is scheduled for Sunday, April 24^th, when Lackawanna hosts the Lock Haven University club team. The first game of that twinbill is set for a 12:00pm start, with the second to follow at 2:00pm ET.