4/5/23
 
SCHNECKSVILLE, Pa. – Lackawanna College baseball completed a three-game sweep of the Lehigh Carbon CC Cougars on Wednesday afternoon, winning both games of a doubleheader by scores of 17-5 and 7-5 in Schnecksville, PA.
 
For the second straight game, the Falcons (15-11, 6-1) were disciplined, drawing 13 walks and getting hit by four pitches in game one, while racking up 12 hits in a 17-5 win over the Cougars (1-16, 0-12). Mitchell Jolikko (Middletown, NY) led the way, going 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored, with a three-run single in the first and an RBI double coming in the third. Four other Falcons had two hits on the day, with Eric Ludwick (Bethlehem, PA) going 2-for-4 with three RBI, and Michael Rickert (Moosic, PA) posting a 2-for-4 performance with an RBI and three runs scored on the day. Jeremy Coleman (Wilmington, DE) picked up the win, his first of the year, despite giving up four runs in two innings of relief. Brandon Holzinger (Bethlehem, PA) went two innings of relief behind Coleman, giving up just one hit and striking out a team-high five.
 
Much the same as Tuesday's game, the Falcons started the first game of the doubleheader with a leadoff walk from Zachary Walsh (Spring Brook Twp, PA) to immediately get a base runner. A one-out steal, followed by an error on the throw, put Walsh on third, but a strikeout threatened to strand him at third. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases with two outs, and Jolikko stepped in and delivered with a three-run single to stake the Falcons to the early lead. The Falcons had runners on the corners with two gone, but couldn't add further to the lead.
 
Ty Morris (Manchester Valley, MD) got the start for the Falcons, and, after a one-out double, he managed to get a ground out and a line out to keep the Cougars off the board in the first inning. He'd get touched slightly in the bottom of the second when, while still holding a 3-0 lead, he gave up an two-out RBI single that brought one run home to cut it to 3-1. Morris recovered to get a strike out to end the inning and strand the runner.
 
The Falcons came back with a vengeance in the third inning. Murphy reached on a leadoff hit by pitch, and then took second on a wild pitch. A walk put two on, and Jolikko looked like he may have delivered again with a single, but Murphy was gunned at the plate to keep the run off the board. Back-to-back wild pitches brought two runs home to make it 5-1, Falcons. Back-to-back walks, followed by a double-steal, had the Falcons with second and third and nobody out. A walk to Rickert loaded the bases, and a bases loaded walk scored a run to make it 6-1, Lackawanna, and force a pitching change. A sac fly brought another run home, and Ludwick scored a pair with an RBI single that pushed the lead out to 9-1. A Murphy RBI single scored another run, and, later, a one-run double from Jolikko stretched the lead to double-digits at 11-1 heading into the bottom of the third.
 
Coleman came on in relief of Morris, and had a rough start to his appearance. A one-out walk, followed by an error, put a runner on second. Another walk put two on, but a line out had the Falcons one out from getting out of the inning. An RBI single changed that, scoring one run, and a two-run single followed to make it 11-4. Another error on the Falcons plated a fourth run in the inning, before Coleman finally recovered to get a strikeout swinging to end the inning with an 11-5 Falcons lead.
 
Spencer Butz (York, PA) reached on an error to lead off the fourth, and he immediately came home on an RBI triple from Rickert. A sac fly pushed the Falcon lead to 13-5, and they had back-to-back two-out singles later in the inning, before a fielder's choice ended the threat. Coleman pitched around a leadoff walk, thanks in part to a caught stealing combination play from catcher Michael Miller (Lafayette Hill, PA) and shortstop Brayden D'Amico (Bethlehem, PA). Coleman got a strikeout for the second out of the inning, then got past another walk with a ground out to end the inning.
 
A hit-by-pitch led off the fifth, and a one-out RBI single from Butz scored the leadoff man. A Rickert single, followed by a double-steal, put runners on second and third, and a Walsh walk loaded the bases, still with one out. A pop up put two away, but a bases loaded walk to Ludwick scored another Falcon run, pushing the lead back out to double-digits at 15-5, before a fly out ended the top half.  
 
A few subs for the Falcons in the field happened in the bottom half, including Holzinger relieving Coleman. Holzinger walked his leadoff batter, but struck out the next two to put two down. A two-out single had a runner in scoring position, but Holzinger got another strikeout to get the Falcons out of the inning and give the Cougars their last licks. In a rare pitching appearance, Christian Rush (Perkasie, PA) came on to relieve Holzinger, and he had a 1-2-3 inning, getting a fly out, a pop out, and a swinging strikeout to punctuate the Falcon victory in game one.
 
A quiet sixth followed for both teams, but the Falcons added two more in the seventh, when a leadoff Butz single was cashed in on an error with Rickert at the plate, allowing Rickert to reach and advance to second, while Butz got to get home. Rickert eventually came home on a ground out to third that increased the Falcons lead to 17-5. The Falcons had the bases loaded with two outs, but a pop out to short ended the threat.
In game two, the Falcon bats took a second to get going, as the Cougars leaped out to a lead they'd hold into the fifth, but a Christian Rush (Perkasie, PA) homerun tied the game, and the Falcons scored took the lead for good on a Cole Casamento (Limerick, PA) two-run double to eventually pull out the 7-5 win. The Falcons committed three errors in game two, two of which were directly responsible for runs, but rallied for the win and got a solid four innings of relief from Nathan Russell (Drexel Hill, PA), who gave up two runs on three hits and struck out a pair for his first win of the season. Rush was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a pair of RBI, while Giovanni Lopez (Olyphant, PA) was 3-for-4 with two RBI coming on a double and a run scored.
 
For the first time in the series, Lackawanna College was not the team that started off strong. The Falcons did get a one-out double in the top of the first, but couldn't get anywhere. Matthew McElligott (Columbus, OH) took the mound for his first start of the year, and he quickly got in trouble with back-to-back walks and a wild pitch, putting runners in scoring position with nobody out. A two-run single gave the Cougars their first lead of the series at 2-0, and they'd add another after a walk and an error, making it 3-0. McElligott got himself back on track, getting three straight outs to strand runners in scoring position.
 
Lehigh Carbon would threaten again in the bottom of the second, getting a hit-by-pitch and a walk to lead the inning off and put two on. McElligott rose to the challenge once again, getting three straight outs to strand the runners and keep the Falcons within three.
 
Back-to-back one-out singles had the Falcons in business in the top of the third, but a fly out put the Falcons one out closer to coming up empty. Up stepped Lopez, who ripped a two-run double to bring the margin to 3-2 heading into the bottom frame. McElligott was in trouble again, as Lehigh Carbon had runners on second and third with just one out, but a fly out and a ground out once again got the Falcons out of a jam.
 
Lackawanna had two baserunners in the top of the fourth with just one out, still trailing 3-2, but they would come up with nothing after a strikeout and a ground out stranded the pair. Russell took over for McElligott in the bottom half, and got a much-needed 1-2-3 inning to set up a big fifth.
 
It started with Rush, who stepped in and popped a solo leadoff homer to tie things up at 3-all. Murphy reached on a hit-by-pitch, and Lopez singled to put two on. A fly out put one away, but also let Murphy get to third. Lopez stole second to put both runners in scoring position, and Casamento cashed them in with a two-run double that put the Falcons up 5-3. That would be all for the Falcons, however, as a fly out and a ground out ended the scoring threat.
 
An error in the bottom frame put the leadoff runner on, but a 6-4-3 double-play eliminated that threat, and a strikeout looking got Russell into the dugout and the Falcons back out batting. A pinch-hit double for Walsh gave the Falcons a baserunner, and a one-out RBI single from Rush scored Walsh to make it 6-3, Falcons. Rush got to third on an error, and came home on a sac fly from Murphy that made it 7-3. Lopez singled to keep the inning rolling, but was caught stealing to make the third out.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, back-to-back singles put two one with nobody out. An error on the infield allowed the next runner to reach and a run to score. A ground out advanced a pair of runners to second and third, and another ground out scored a second run to make it 7-5, Falcons. Russell got a pop out to end the inning before anything else could get across.
 
The Falcons had a runner at second with two outs, but couldn't cash anything in in the top of the seventh, giving Lehigh Carbon one last chance to try to complete the comeback. Russell came out for a fourth inning of work, already far-and-away his longest outing of the season, and, after a one-out single, he was assisted by Murphy with a hard liner to first. Murphy snagged the ball and tagged the runner at first for an unassisted double-play to end the game and hand the Falcons the series sweep.
 
Lackawanna College is 7-2 in its last nine games, with a three-game overall winning-streak and a four-game Region XIX winning run. The Falcons get back to action with a pair of road doubleheaders this weekend, starting on Friday, April 7^th with a 1:00pm ET first pitch against Monroe CC in Rochester, NY.