Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 3/5/23

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC -- Lackawanna College softball split its season-opening doubleheader on Sunday morning in Myrtle Beach, dropping the opener to Kaskaskia College in five innings, 9-1, before pounding Frederick CC in game two, 25-1 in five innings.
 
The Falcons (1-1) were held to just four hits in the first game, a 9-1 loss to Kaskaskia College, as the Blue Angels (5-5) scored six runs over the final two innings to walk-off on the run rule.
 
After Kaskaskia scratched across a run in both of the first and third innings, the Falcons got a lead-off single from Madison Maloney (Scranton, PA) to start the top of the fourth, followed by a one-out single from Catarena Sommers (Windham, OH), putting two on with nobody out in a 2-0 ball game. But, the Blue Angels got two big strikeouts on the next two batters to strand the runners and get out of the top frame, then took advantage of a two-out single that put two aboard in the bottom half, advancing runners to second and third, bunting home a run, stealing second, and then scoring two more runs on a single to left field that made it 5-0 after four.
 
The Falcons finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fifth inning when Allyson Lemerise (Catonsville, MD) led off with a single, stole second, and eventually came home to score on a ground out from pinch hitter Aria Reyes (Allentown, PA). A groundout would end the inning before the Falcons could get any more across, and Kaskaskia struck again in the bottom half of the fifth, taking advantage of three straight walks to load the bases with nobody out and driving a double to center that cleared the bases. Later, a two-out single scored the run that walked things off and gave the Blue Angels the 9-1 advantage and the win.
 
In game two, things went much differently for Lackawanna College, as the Falcons pounded out 20 hits and blistered the Frederick CC Cougars with a 25-1 victory in five innings on Sunday afternoon.
 
The Falcons scored runs in every inning, never trailing, and putting up a ten-spot in the third inning. Lackawanna College had ten extra base hits, including six doubles and four homeruns. Skylar Borthwick (Pittston, PA) was 3-for-3 with five runs scored, four RBI, two doubles, and a homerun. Sophia Mandarano (Dunmore, PA) went 2-for-3 with five runs scored and two RBI, with a double and a homerun. Tess Ruschman (Easton, PA) was 2-for-3 with three runs score and three RBI, hitting homerun. Emilee Dickinson (Hillsboro, OR) was 1-for-3 with two runs scored and four RBI, two coming on a homerun, her first as a Falcon.
 
Leading 3-1 in the top of the second, Lackawanna College got four straight one-out doubles that resulted in three more runs coming across, all part of a five-run inning to extend their lead out to 8-1. In the top of the third, it got even more lopsided, as a Mandarano homer to left, followed by RBI singles from Savannah Glover (Susquehanna, PA) and Krista Scoblick (Harvey's Lake, PA) pushed the Falcon lead to double-digits. Later in the inning, leading 14-1 with two outs, Lackawanna put up three more runs thanks to a three-run shot from Ruschman to left field. For good measure, Borthwick added a solo homer to center to make it 18-1 Falcons after two-and-a-half.
 
Dickinson added a two-run homer in the top of the fourth, and back-to-back bases loaded walks, followed by a Scoblick RBI single, pushed the Falcon advantage to 23-1. An Alivia Graber (North Syracuse, NY) single to second scored another for the Falcons, and Lackawanna added one more run in the top of the fifth, courtesy of another RBI single from Scoblick.
 
In the bottom frame, Dickinson came on to pitch and went 1-2-3 with a strikeout, a bunt out, and a ground out to end the game early and give the Falcons their first win in 2023.
 
Lackawanna College gets right back to work on Monday, March 6^th, when the Falcons take on Bryant & Stratton College (WI) at 9:00am ET, followed by an 11:00am ET game against Delta College. Both games are happening in Myrtle Beach, SC.