4/16/23
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College managed to snag a win in a wild game one thanks to an RBI single from Madison Maloney (Scranton, PA), earning a hard-fought split in doubleheader action against Delaware Tech CC on Sunday afternoon in Scranton, PA. Lackawanna won game one 3-2 in ten innings, before dropping game two 8-3 to Del Tech.
 
The Falcons (20-13, 4-4) were locked in a tight battle heading into the tenth inning of game one, tied at two, when the international tiebreaker rules put a runner on second, represented by Sophia Mandarano (Dunmore, PA), in the bottom of the tenth. After a sac bunt moved Mandarano to third, Maloney came up and battled in a nine-pitch at-bat, eventually turning on a 3-2 pitch and rocketing a hot-shot to third base, where it deflected off the third base glove and ricocheted over to short. That allowed Mandarano to scoot home and set off a wild celebration in the Falcon dugout. Allyson Lemerise (Catonsville, MD) was sensational on the mound, giving up six hits and two runs, just one earned, in ten innings of action, striking out six batters for her seventh win of the year.
 
The Falcons got a 1-2-3 inning to start the game, and a leadoff single in the bottom frame from Maloney right away. She'd get to third on a ground out and a line out, but a strikeout stranded her at third.
 
In the top of the second, Lemerise gave up back-to-back walks to start the inning, but bounced back with three straight strikeouts to strand the runners and fire up the Falcons. Krista Scoblick (Harvey's Lake, PA) reached on an error at short, but a hot shot to first was scooped up and flipped to second for a double play to negate the baserunner. The Falcons grounded out to end the second, still with no score.
 
A one-out single, followed by a ground out, put a runner on second with two outs. Del Tech got a walk to put two on, and a single to right scored the lead runner and gave the Terry Hawks the 1-0 lead. Lemerise managed to get a fly out to right to strand the other two runners and get out of trouble.
 
The Falcons managed to answer in the bottom frame, loading the bases with a pair of walks and a hit batter, with nobody out. A strikeout put one away, but an error at short allowed Catarena Sommers (Windham, OH) to reach and brought the first run home for the Falcons to tie things up at 1-1. Madison McVicar (Blakely, PA) smacked a grounder to short, which was flipped to second for the second out, but the throw to first got by the first baseman to let McVicar reach and another run to score. First base recovered to throw towards home to get the Falcons out trying to score a third run, keeping it to just a 2-1 advantage for Lackawanna College.
 
In the top of the fourth, Delaware Tech got a leadoff single, and the runner advanced to second on a wild pitch. A sac bunt pushed the runner to third, but a ground out was unable to score the run, and a foul out to first ended the top half. The Falcons got a pair of two-out baserunners in the bottom frame on a hit batter and a single, but a strikeout stranded the runners.
 
Del Tech responded in the top frame of the fifth, when a leadoff single, plus an error on the outfield, let the runner get to second. A fly out pushed that runner to third, but an error on the throw to third let the run come home and tie things up at 2-2. Lemerise managed to get the defense back on track, getting a pop out and a fly out to end the top of the fifth.
 
Nothing of note really happened until the top of the seventh, when a two-out single, followed by a passed ball, put a Del Tech runner on second, but a long fly out to Sommers in right ended the threat. The Falcons got a leadoff single in the bottom of the second, and were able to push Tess Ruschman (Easton, PA) to third on a sac bunt and a ground out, but a strikeout ended the inning and sent the game to extras.
 
In the bottom of the eighth, still tied at 2, Scoblick ripped a two-out double to right-center, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a triple on a great relay from the Delaware Tech defense, making the third out on the base paths, keeping the game going into extras.
 
In the top of the ninth, the international tiebreaker rules kicked in, and the Terry Hawks got a runner on second to start the inning. A sac bunt immediately put the runner on third, but a baserunning error on the next at-bat cost the Terry Hawks, when a fly out to left-center field was deep enough, but the runner didn't tag up, which meant the Falcons doubled off the runner on third to end the top half. Scoblick was the runner placed at second in the bottom of the ninth, but the Falcons were retired in order without moving the runner, sending the game into the tenth.
 
Delaware Tech struck out for the first out of the inning, then flew out to left, but not deep enough to advance the runner. The final out of the top half came on a fly out to second, giving the Falcons another chance to end it.
 
Mandarano was the runner at second this time around, and, after a sac bunt moved her to third, Maloney came up and battled through a nine-pitch at-bat, eventually shooting a laser to the left side that bounced off the third-base glove and gave Mandarano the chance to score and send the Falcons to a big Region XIX win.
 
In game two, the Del Tech (23-4-1, 5-1) offense got on track, scoring three runs in the first inning, cranking a two-run homer in the fifth, and answering any Falcons rally with their own to win 8-3 in game two. Krista Scoblick (Harvey's Lake, PA) was 2-for-2 with two runs scored for the Falcons. Alivia Graber (North Syracuse, NY) was hit with the loss, her fifth of the year, giving up five runs in 4.1 innings of work.
 
Delaware Tech got a leadoff single on the first pitch of game two, but a fly out, followed by a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning quickly. The Falcons were retired in order in the bottom frame, and Del Tech got their runs in the top of the second. A leadoff single, followed by a one-out single, put two on. With runners on second and third and one out, a line out to Skylar Borthwick (Pittston, PA) at third put two away, and almost doubled off the Hawks, but the runner on third got under the tag just before it was applied. A walk loaded the bases, and a two-run single into left made it 2-0. Another single, this one to right, scored a third run, giving Del Tech a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the second.
 
The Terry Hawks threatened again in the top of the third, with runners on the corners and two down, but a fielder's choice at second ended the threat. Still, the Falcons couldn't get the offense going, retired in order in the bottom frame and still searching for their first hit.
 
Del Tech got two on with one out in the top of the fourth, still ahead 3-0, but a line out to Borthwick was whipped across the diamond to first to double off the runner, providing a crucial double play to end the inning. But, once again, the Falcons came up empty in the bottom frame.
 
Finally, the Hawks made Lackawanna pay in the top of the fifth. A one-out double gave Del Tech a baserunner, and that was followed by a towering drive into left-center field that cleared the fence and gave the visitors a 5-0 advantage. That forced a pitching change, as Graber came out and Aria Reyes (Allentown, PA) came in. Reyes immediately got a strikeout and a fly out to get the Falcons out of the inning.
 
Scoblick led the bottom of the fifth off with a single to left, then stole a base with one out to get to second. Gabby Wettig (Manheim, PA) cashed her in with a double to center, getting the Falcons on the board at 5-1. Later, with two outs, Mandarano pinch hit and was hit by a pitch to put two on, but a pop out at second ended the possible rally.
 
Del Tech got their two runs back in the top of the sixth, when a one-out double, followed by a single, eventually gave the Terry Hawks runners on second and third with one out. A liner to center was snagged on the run by Scoblick for the second out, but was deep enough to score a run. Then, a double to right scored another, pushing the Del Tech advantage to 7-1 after 5.5 innings.
 
In the bottom frame, a two-out double from McVicar got the Falcons a baserunner. Scoblick stepped up and singled to short, but the throw ate up the first baseman, an error which allowed Scoblick to advance to second and McVicar to score. Emilee Dickinson (Hillsboro, OR) followed with an RBI single to make it 7-3. A pop out ended the rally.
 
In the top of the seventh, another one-out hit, this time a double, gave Del Tech a baserunner, and they hit a second consecutive double to push that runner home. A single put runners on the corners with one out, but Reyes got a ground ball to Maloney at short, who ran it to second and fired over to first in time for the double play. No rally came, however, as the Falcons were retired in order to end the game and give the visitors the 8-3 win and the doubleheader split.
 
The Falcons get back to work on Thursday, April 20^th, with a doubleheader on the road at SUNY Onondaga. First pitch is at 3:00pm ET.