3/19/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Alivia Graber spun a one-hitter over five innings in game one, and Paige Pieper walked off game two with a three-run homer to help the Falcons earn a doubleheader sweep over Penn State Hazleton, 8-0 and 14-5, on a blustery Tuesday evening in their home opener.
 
The first day of spring certainly didn't feel like it, as the clouds covered the sunlight and the wind howled on a chilly day at Scranton HS Softball field, but Lackawanna College (12-7) didn't let the cold stop itself from putting up runs in bunches on the Nittany Lions.
 
Game one saw the Falcons put up five runs in the first on three doubles, then add runs in the third and fourth innings to build an eight-run lead. Meanwhile, Graber (Sophomore; North Syracuse, NY) stymied PSU Hazleton (0-2), allowing just one hit and putting up a pair of strikeouts over five innings of work, picking up her second win in the process. Allyson Lemerise (Sophomore; Catonsville, MD), Pieper (First Year; Middleton, ID), and Mazzie Musgrave (First Year; Old Forge, PA) each had RBI-doubles in the first inning, plating five total runs to help the Falcons build an early lead. Emmalee Mowery (First Year; Mechanicsburg, PA) singled on the infield in the third to add a run, and Kizbelth Ortiz (First Year; New Britain, CT) added to that when she lined a shot into left that scored one run and, after the left fielder misplayed it, allowed Ortiz to hustle around the bases and score herself to make it 8-0. Graber managed to retire the side in order in the top of the fifth to end the game via run-rule.
 
Pieper finished 2-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored, while Lemerise was 1-for-2 with two RBI and a run scored. Mowery and Musgrave each had a hit and an RBI, while Madison Maloney (Sophomore; Scranton, PA) and Skylar Borthwick (Sophomore; Pittston, PA) each scored a run.
 
In game two, the Nittany Lions jumped out immediately to take a 3-0 lead, and led 4-2 after 3.5 innings, but Lackawanna scored eight runs on just two hits in the bottom frame, thanks in part to nine walks and four wild pitches from the PSU Hazleton pitching staff. That turned the game on its head, and put Lackawanna up 10-4 heading into the fifth.
 
Penn State scratched one back on a one-out double to make it 10-5, but Aria Reyes (Sophomore; Allentown, PA), who came on to pitch to start the inning, got two straight pop ups to get out of trouble, and the Falcons did what they had to do in the bottom frame. Back-to-back singles put two on with nobody out, and Emilee Dickinson (Sophomore; Hillsboro, OR) doubled on a rope to center field to score one run. Pieper was inserted as a pinch hitter, and she delivered on the first pitch, blasting a shot into left-center that just cleared the fence for a three-run homer, ending game two via the run-rule and giving Lackawanna its doubleheader sweep.
 
Jillian Heimberger (First Year; Unionville, PA) picked up her first win of the year, giving up four runs on seven hits in four innings of work in the circle. Kaislyn Currie (First Year; Gibbons, AB) was a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Heimberger scored three runs courtesy of three walks. The Falcons got ten walks, total, and took advantage of five wild pitches on the day.
 
Lackawanna College has now won four straight games, and the Falcons will look to keep the momentum rolling when they host Anne Arundel CC on Friday, March 22^nd. First pitch of the doubleheader is 3:00pm ET at Scranton HS.