4/29/23
 
KEYSER, WV – Playing for the first time in six days, Lackawanna College softball had a tough task on its docket, with a doubleheader on the road against a nationally ranked opponent. The Falcons fell in a pair of games to the Catamounts, dropping a 9-0 decision and a 17-5 score in the pair of games on Saturday afternoon in Keyser, WV.
 
The Falcons (24-17) struggled in game-one against the #20 Catamounts (38-3), as Potomac leaned on dominant pitcher Abby Peace and slugged five homers against the Falcons in a 9-0 victory in six innings. Peace threw six innings of two-hit ball, striking out 12 batters, and helped herself out at the plate by going 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI, including the first run of the game on an RBI single. The Catamounts made it 2-0 on a homer in the second inning, then hit three homeruns in four batters in the third inning, breaking open the game with a two-run shot and a pair of solo homers, including one by Peace. Potomac led 7-0 after three innings, and added two more runs in the bottom of the sixth on one more homerun to walk it off and activate the run-rule victory. Lackawanna got its first baserunner in the fourth when Skylar Borthwick (Pittston, PA) drew a one-out walk. She got to second with two outs on a wild pitch, and Madison McVicar (Blakely, PA) drew another walk to put two on, but a strikeout looking stranded the runners. The Falcons got their first hit in the top of the fifth, when Gwen Balavage (Avoca, PA) broke up the no-hitter with a single to start the fifth, but three straight punchouts stranded Balavage. The last charge for the Falcons came in the top of the sixth, when the inning started with a hit from Madison Maloney (Scranton, PA), who was picked off trying to steal, but the two subsequent batters drew walks to put two on. A fly out put two away, but a passed ball let the two Falcons runners get into scoring position. It wasn't meant to be, though, as the Falcons flew out to center to end their best scoring threat, setting the stage for Potomac to walk it off early in the bottom of the sixth. Borthwick drew a pair of walks to be the only Falcon on base multiple times, while Maloney and Balavage provided the only hits for Lackawanna on the day. Allyson Lemerise (Catonsville, MD) pitched five innings, giving up nine runs on ten hits in the loss.
 
After the Falcons were retired in order to start game one, Potomac got a one-out single, then a two-out RBI single to push that runner home and make it 1-0, Catamounts. Another two-out single put two on, but a fielder's choice forced the out at third and ended the first.
 
The Falcons went in order in the second on three straight strikeouts, and a leadoff homerun started the bottom frame for Potomac. Lemerise settled in and got a pair of strikeouts, then a bunted ground out back to her to end the inning.
 
The Falcons were quiet again in the third, and the Catamounts made Lackawanna pay in the bottom of the third. A single started the inning, and was followed by a two-run homer that doubled the Potomac lead to 4-0. Peace came up and helped her own cause out with a solo shot to make it 5-0. A fly out was the first out of the inning, but the next batter hit a homer to make it 6-0, Potomac. Later, with two on and two outs, a single scored another run and gave the Catamounts a 7-0 advantage after three.
 
Lackawanna got its first baserunner of the contest when Borthwick reached on a one-out walk. Borthwick got to second on a wild pitch with two outs, and McVicar drew a walk to put two on with two away, but a strikeout out stranded the pair of runners and kept the Falcons from capitalizing. Lemerise kept Potomac off the board in the bottom of the fourth, pitching around a one-out walk to keep it at 7-0.
 
Balavage broke up Peace's no-hitter with a leadoff single in the fifth, but Peace struck out the next three hitters to strand Balavage. Lemerise pitched around a one-out walk to keep Potomac off the board in the bottom frame, setting up the Falcons for their best chance in the sixth.
 
A Maloney single started the inning, but she was thrown out trying to steal, putting one out on the board. A walk from Borthwick, followed by a successful stolen base, put a runner in scoring position. Catarena Sommers (Windham, OH) drew a walk to put two on, and, after a fly out put two outs away, a passed ball gave the Falcons a pair of runners in scoring position. But, pinch hitter Krista Scoblick (Harvey's Lake, PA) got underneath a pitch to center and didn't get the power she needed, flying out and stranding the potential scoring rally for Lackawanna.
 
Potomac ended it early in the bottom frame, using a hit batter to get the leadoff runner on, then launching a two-run homer to go up 9-0 and activate the run-rule, walking off the Falcons in six innings of game one.
 
In game two, both teams struggled with errors and mistakes, and the Falcons even managed to score five runs in the second to put up a fight, but the Catamounts were too prolific on offense, scoring a pair of runs in the second to take the lead back, and then scoring eight more in the third to take firm control, thanks to a pair of homeruns, on their way to a 17-5 victory in five innings. The Falcons committed seven errors, and both teams had eleven total on the day. Trailing 5-0 after the first inning, Lackawanna College got things rolling in the top of the second, thanks to a one-out error on third base that gave the Falcons a base runner. A pair of singles followed to score the first run of the day for Lackawanna, and a walk, followed by another single, cut the Catamounts lead to 5-2. A fielder's choice followed and forced the second out at the plate, but Lackawanna got a big two-run single from Aria Reyes (Allentown, PA) to cut the deficit down to 5-4. An error at short allowed the tying run to score, and the Falcons had the bases loaded again before a fly out ended the inning. That's when Potomac hit its stride, scoring a pair of runs on a single and an error to re-take control, and then using an eight-run third inning to build from there, with help from a two-run homerun and a pinch-hit homer in the inning. They'd add another homer, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the fourth to keep the runs rolling. The Falcons struggled to recreate that second inning, not getting any sort of push on offense in the subsequent innings. Reyes was 1-for-3 with her two RBI, while Balavage was 1-for-2 with a run scored, and Lemerise was 1-for-2 with a run scored and an RBI. Alivia Graber (North Syracuse, NY) got the start but ended with the loss, giving up nine runs, for earned, on seven hits in two innings.
 
To start game two, Lackawanna College got a baserunner when Maloney reached because of an error at third, but Sommers couldn't get a one-out pitch out of the infield and Maloney was picked off on the base paths to end the inning early.
 
Errors plagued the Falcons in the bottom frame, when an error on a stolen base attempt with one out let a runner get to third, then another error getting the ball back into the infield let that runner score. A fly out put two away, but a two-out walk, followed by a single, kept things rolling, and a one-run double made it 2-0. Another error, this time on the infield, resulted in two more runs coming home and the runner reaching third. Then an RBI single scored that runner and made it 5-0, Catamounts. Graber finally ended what was a nightmare half inning with a strikeout.
 
Lackawanna responded in the second, when McVicar reached on an error at third to give the Falcons a one-out base runner. Balavage singled to put runners on the corners, and Emilee Dickinson (Hillsboro, OR) singled to score McVicar and get the Falcons on the board. A walk loaded the bases, still with one out, and a single from Lemerise scored Balavage and made it 5-2. A fielder's choice forced an out at the plate, putting two outs on the board but still keeping the bases loaded for Lackawanna. Reyes delivered with a big two-out RBI single to score a pair of runs, and an error let Sommers reach and scored the game-tying run at 5-5. Another error let Scoblick on and loaded the bases again, but a line out to short ended the threat before the Falcons could take the lead.
 
In the bottom of the second, a leadoff single, followed by a walk, put two on with nobody out for Potomac. The Catamounts capitalized with an RBI single to make it 6-5 with runners on the corners. A pair of fly outs had it looking like Lackawanna may get out with just the one run against, but an error trying to catch a runner stealing let a second run in the inning come home, making it 7-5 after two.
 
After Lackawanna was retired in order in the top frame of the third, the flood gates opened for Potomac in the bottom half. A leadoff single and a walk put two on, and an RBI single made it 8-5, Catamounts, with nobody out. A pitching change was made and Tess Ruschman (Easton, PA) came in to replace Graber, but the Catamounts weren't kind to Tess. A ground out to Ruschman scored a run but got the first out of the inning, and a single resulted in the second out when the lead runner was tagged out at home on a nifty 8-6-2 relay from the Falcons. With Ruschman a strike away from getting out of trouble, the Catamounts hit some two-out magic again, launching a ball off the flag pole in left-center field to make it 11-5. Then, a solo homer followed that, pushing the Potomac lead to 12-5. The inning continued on a walk, a wild pitch, and an RBI single, followed by two more singles and an error, plating another couple of runs and pushing the Catamounts lead up to 15-5. Ruschman got a ground out, finally, to get the Falcons out of the inning.
 
Lackawanna went in order in the top of the fourth, and Potomac used a one-out double to get a baserunner, setting the stage for a two-out two-run homer that pushed their lead out to 17-5, after four.
 
The Falcons had one last chance in the top of the fifth, but were retired in order, giving the Catamounts a second-straight run-rule victory over the Falcons on the weekend, and sending Lackawanna to its forth straight defeat.
 
The Falcons are scheduled to meet Potomac one more time this weekend, when they play the Catamounts in a single game in Keyser, WV, on Sunday, April 30^th, scheduled for a 12:00pm ET start.