3/8/23
 
RALEIGH, NC -- Lackawanna College baseball won game one in a shootout, but couldn't generate the same offense in game two, splitting a twin bill at Five County Stadium, the home of the Carolina Mud Cats, in Raleigh, NC on Wednesday afternoon. The Falcons took game one by a 15-10 margin, then dropped game two by an 8-4 score.
 
The Falcons (5-5) had their way early and often in game one, battering Wake Tech (6-14) for ten runs through the first five innings, and holding a 12-2 advantage into the bottom of the sixth. The Eagles, however, managed to rally, scoring five in the bottom of the sixth and another two in the seventh to make things a little closer than the Falcons wanted.
 
Lackawanna drew 14 walks and had 12 hits as a team, being led by Brayden D'Amico (Bethlehem, PA), who was 3-for-3 with three doubles, five RBI, and two runs scored. Spencer Butz (York, PA) was 2-for-4 with two triples and four RBI on the afternoon, and Michael Rickert (Moosic, PA) was one of three Falcons to draw three walks on the day, going 1-for-2 with three runs scored and a double on the day.
 
Jace Cunnane (Clarkstown, NY) came on in relief almost immediately in the first inning, after Brandon Holzinger (Bethlehem, PA) gave up four walks and a run while only getting one out. Cunnane limited the damage, and ended up throwing 3.2 innings of relief for his first win of the year, giving up just one run on three hits while striking out a pair.
 
A lead-off single, followed by a one-out triple from Butz, made it 1-0 Falcons right away in the top of the first. Ben Riddick (Manassas, VA) followed with an RBI double to make it 2-0, and the Falcons had runners on the corners with two away later in the inning, but they wouldn't get more than the pair.
 
After Wake sac flied one run home, they had the bases loaded and one out when Cunnane came into the game. They managed to get a runner out on the base paths, then struck out the batter to end the inning and keep the damage to just one. Lackawanna bounced back with a pair in the top of the second, after Rickert led off with a double, and came home on a two-run triple from Butz to make it 4-1, Falcons.
 
Wake Tech added a run in the bottom of the second to cut it to 4-2, but the Falcon got another run in the top of the fourth, when a one-out double from D'Amico, followed by a walk, but two on with one out. Vincent Proietto (Drexel Hill, PA) stole second, then advanced to third on an error on the base paths, and eventually came home to score to give the Falcons a 5-2 cushion.
 
That lead ballooned to 10-2 in the fifth, where the Falcons took advantage of a lead-off triple, singled in the first run, and loaded the bases with nobody out. The Falcons scored four of their five runs in the innings on a passed ball, a hit by pitch, and two walks.
 
The Falcons added two more in the top of the sixth when, after back-to-back one-out walks, D'Amico doubled home a run, and a pinch hit single for Donald Healey (Olyphant, PA) scored another to make it 12-2.
 
Before the Falcons could think about the run rule victory, Wake Tech got a lead-off baserunner with a hit by pitch, then a two-out RBI single to make it 12-3. That was the first of five runs scored by the Eagles, as they put together five straight hits over the course of the inning to stay alive.
 
Lackawanna tacked on three more in the top of the seventh, taking advantage of five walks to eventually load the bases with two away, allowing D'Amico to smash a double that cleared the bases and staked the Falcons to a 15-7 advantage.
 
Wake Tech put three more on the board, taking advantage of a passed ball and an error to score their runs, but the Falcons managed to hold it together and get their final two outs to get out of trouble and get the win for game one.
 
Game two was a different story, as the Falcons bats couldn't make up for some defensive lapses, and the Eagles grabbed an early lead and held on for the 8-4 win to earn the split.
 
Christian Rush (Perkasie, PA) was 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, while Zachary Walsh (Spring Brook Twp, PA) was 1-for-5 with a run scored. The Falcons had nine combined strikeouts on the day, and stranded 13 runners. Starter Ty Federici got tagged with the loss, giving up seven runs, six earned, on four hits in two innings of work.
 
After the Falcons went down in order in the top of the first, Wake Tech got a baserunner because of an error on the infield to start their half of the frame. After a single and a stolen base, the Eagles had runners on second and third with nobody out. Those two runs came home on an RBI double, and another run came home on a ground out to make it 3-0 after one.
 
A Wake Tech error to start the top of the second put Michael Miller (Lafayette Hill, PA) on-base, and he made it to third with one out, when Ian Murphy (West Deptford, NJ) singled him home to make it 3-1. A walk put two on with one out, and a ground out to short put the runners in scoring position. A hit by pitch loaded the bases, but a strikeout ended the Falcon scoring threat.  
 
Lackawanna got another run in the top of the third, when Rush led the inning off with a triple, then came home on an error from the third baseman on a grounder by George Castro (Philadelphia, PA). The Falcons couldn't do much more with two runners on, however, ending the inning with a strikeout and a ground out.
 
It would prove a costly error for Lackawanna College, as Wake Tech chased Federici after an error allowed two runs to come home, and then a walk put another two on base, still with nobody out. Reliever Matthew McElligott (Columbus, OH) came in, and got a strikeout, but walked the bases loaded twice, and hit a batter to bring three more in for the Eagles, making it 8-2 after 2.5.
 
Rush hit a one-out RBI single to score one run in the top of the fourth, and Spencer Butz (York, PA) had an RBI single to make it 8-4. The Falcons had the bases loaded with just one out, but a strikeout, followed by a fly out, stranded the runners.
 
In the top of the fifth, a one-out single from Giovanni Lopez (Olyphant, PA) put a runner on, and the Falcons were in business later in the inning with runners in scoring position and two away, but a strikeout ended the scoring threat once again.
 
The top of the sixth was more of the same, as the Falcons once again got runners on, with Butz reaching after getting hit by a pitch, then advancing to third on two passed balls. With one out, Castro drew a walk, then the Falcons loaded the bases after Murphy did the same. But, Lackawanna was undone once again, when back-to-back strikeouts stranded the bases loaded.
 
The Falcons went down in order in the top of the seventh, securing the victory for Wake Tech at 8-4.
 
Lackawanna College doesn't have much time to sulk, as the Falcons hit the road for Martinsburg, VA to take on Patrick & Henry CC on Thursday, March 9^th. That game is set for a 2:00pm ET first pitch.