4/8/23
 
GROTON, CT – Lackawanna College baseball pushed game two to extra innings, but couldn't get over the hump, settling for a doubleheader split on the road against UConn Avery Point on Saturday afternoon in Groton, CT. The Falcons had an impressive win in game one, 6-2, over the Pointers, and managed to rally from a two-run deficit in the top of the seventh before ultimately falling, 5-4, in nine innings of game two against UCAP.
 
The Falcons (18-12), facing UCAP (13-7) for the second time in six days, were slow out of the gate, but got some excellent pitching from starter Matthew McElligott (Columbus, OH) and Ty Morris (Manchester Valley, MD) to stifle the Pointers and keep the Falcons within striking distance. That paid off in the top of the third, where the Falcons scored four runs, three coming on an RBI single from Eric Ludwick (Bethlehem, PA). UCAP added a run in the third and fifth innings, but the Falcons padded the lead on another Ludwick RBI single and a Spencer Butz (York, PA) single to push the margin to 6-2. Nathan Russell (Drexel Hill, PA) pitched two innings of scoreless relief for the save, while Morris got the win, his first of the year. Ludwick finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Michael Rickert (Moosic, PA) was 2-for-3 with a run scored and a double.
 
After striking out in order to start the game, the Falcons got the first hit in the second inning, a two-out double from Michael Miller (Lafayette Hill, PA), but Lackawanna couldn't do anything with it. In the bottom half, a hit-by-pitch, followed by a walk, put two on with one out for the Pointers, but McElligott worked out of trouble, getting a fly out and a pop up to end the threat.
 
Lackawanna got some run support in the top of the third, when Rickert got on-base with a one-out double. Mitchell Jolikko (Middletown, NY) followed with a single, and Ian Murphy (Bethlehem, PA) brought home the first run with a fielder's choice up the middle. With two outs, Christian Rush (Perkasie, PA) doubled to keep the inning alive, and Brayden D'Amico (Bethlehem, PA) drew a walk to load the bases. Ludwick unloaded them, singling up the middle and advancing to second on an error on the cut-off throw, which let all three runners score and gave the Falcons the 4-0 advantage.
 
UCAP got a run back in the bottom of the third, when a leadoff walk eventually led to a runner on third with two outs, and a double scored the first run of the game for the Pointers. A walk put two on, but McElligott got the third out on a fielder's choice to minimize the damage.
 
Morris relieved McElligott to start the bottom of the fourth, with the Falcons still up 4-1, and he was in a spot of trouble with two on and only one out, but he got a grounder to D'Amico, who sidestepped over to second for one out and fired on to first for the 6-3 double play to end the inning and keep the Falcons up by three.
 
UCAP touched up Morris in the bottom of the fifth, getting the leadoff runner on with an error on the infield, and eventually coming home to score on an RBI single that cut the Falcon lead to 4-2. With a runner on and nobody out, the Pointers attempted a steal, but Cole Casamento (Limerick, PA) combined with D'Amico to catch UCAP red-handed and supply the first out. A double kept the inning going, but Morris got a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.
 
After the Falcons wasted a one-out double in the top frame, Russell came on for Morris in the bottom of the sixth, and got a 1-2-3 inning to give the Falcons one more chance to try to add to their lead. A leadoff walk for Jolikko, followed by a stolen base, immediately had Lackawanna in business. Rush was hit by a pitch with one out to put two on, and both runners stole second and third, respectively, after a strikeout, putting runners in scoring position with two down. Ludwick singled to score one, and Butz pinch hit and singled to score another, giving the Falcons a 6-2 advantage.
 
In the bottom of the seventh, UCAP got a single to start the inning. Russell got a grounder to second with the next batter, however, which started a 4-6-3 double play, the second of the game for Lackawanna, that immediately put two away. A walk kept the inning alive, briefly, but a fly out to left secured the game one victory for Lackawanna College.  
 
The Falcons outhit UCAP in game two, 11-to-5, but left eleven on-base and were undone by a pair of two-run innings in the fifth and sixth, and, ultimately, the quite literal walk-off in the ninth inning. Lackawanna College scored first in the second inning, on a Ranciel Ventura (Allentown, PA) RBI single, and added another run on a Butz homerun. Later, trailing 4-2 in the top of the seventh, Donald Healey (Olyphant, PA) and Brayden D'Amico (Bethlehem, PA) had back-to-back RBI singles to tie the game at four and send it to extras. The Falcons couldn't muster any offense in the extra frames, and were undone when Ben Riddick (Manassas, VA), who had pitched two innings of scoreless relief prior to the inning, gave up four straight one-out walks, the last with the bases loaded, giving the Pointers the win. Ian Murphy (Bethlehem, PA) was 3-for-5 with a run scored, while D'Amico went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, and Ventura finished 2-for-4 with an RBI.
 
The Falcons had two baserunners immediately to start game two, thanks to a walk and a single, but it was nothing doing early, allowing starter Brandon Holzinger (Bethlehem, PA) to get out on the mound. A two-out error put a runner on second, but a pop out ended the threat.
 
In the top of the second, back-to-back singles gave the Falcons baserunners, and a one-out RBI single from Ventura made it 1-0, Lackawanna. The Pointers recovered to strikeout two in a row to strand the runners.
 
Holzinger had a 1-2-3 bottom of the second, and Lackawanna added to its lead in the top of the third when Butz went yard with one out to make it 2-0, Falcons.
 
It took until the bottom of the fourth for Avery Point to get its first hit of the contest, a leadoff single, but Holzinger induced a 4-6-3 double play to erase the runner, then struck out the next batter to end the inning and give the Falcons some life heading into the fifth with a 2-0 advantage.
 
In that half of the inning, the Falcons had runners on the corners with nobody out, with Butz at the bat. He struck out looking, but Rush attempted a steal of second, getting in ahead of the throw. Murphy, the runner at third, tried to steal home when the ball was thrown out to second, but the shortstop saw it and whipped the ball home to nail Murphy at the plate, putting two away and putting a dent into what looked like a big Falcon inning.
 
That moment carried to the bottom of the fifth, when the Pointers finally got their offense going. Holzinger looked like he might get around a leadoff walk, getting a strikeout and a fielder's choice that got the lead runner out, but a two-out walk put two on, and a two-run double immediately tied the game. Holzinger was lifted for Jeremy Coleman (Wilmington, DE), who came in and got the final out to get the Falcons out of trouble.
 
The Falcons looked like they had something cooking in the top of the sixth, when a pair of hit-by-pitches put two on with one out, but Lackawanna stranded the runners. Avery Point didn't miss in the bottom of the sixth, using a pair of singles to put runners on the corners with one out. Coleman got an infield fly to put two away, but a passed ball let a run come home, and an RBI single made it 4-2, Pointers, before Coleman could get a ground out to end the inning.
 
Needing to tie to keep the game going, Lackawanna College got a leadoff double in the top of the seventh from Murphy to get things going. A hit-by-pitch, followed by both Murphy and Rush advancing a base, put runners in scoring position with nobody out. That's when Healey stepped in and delivered with an RBI single to score Murphy and cut the deficit to 4-3. The Falcons had runners at second and third again, with one out, when D'Amico singled to make it 4-4. D'Amico stole second to put runners in scoring position again, but a pair of strikeouts ended the Falcons rally.
 
Riddick came on for Coleman in the bottom of the seventh, and got a 1-2-3 inning to send it to extras. In the eighth, the Falcons had the go-ahead run on third with one out, but couldn't bring him home. Riddick worked around a leadoff walk to retire the side in the bottom frame. In the top of the ninth, an error gave the Falcons another baserunner, but a 6-4-3 double play put two away, and a strikeout ended that inning. Riddick got a strikeout to start the ninth, but that's when it unraveled for him, as four straight walks ensued, with the last coming with the bases loaded, giving the Pointers the 5-4 walk-off win and a doubleheader split.
 
The loss snaps what had been a six-game winning streak for the Falcons, but Lackawanna finishes the week at 6-1, and will look to keep riding that wave into next week, starting on Tuesday, April 11^th, when the Falcons are scheduled to host Monroe College for a doubleheader at Scranton HS. First pitch is at 1:00pm ET.