3/27/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – An early downpour couldn't dampen Lackawanna College softball's spirits, as the Falcons slayed the Dragons from Howard CC in a pair of wins on Wednesday evening at the Scranton HS softball field in non-region action. Game one ended in five innings with a 15-3 Lackawanna win, while game two was a tight 4-3 victory for the home side.
 
The Falcons (18-7) couldn't have had two more different games. In game one, Lackawanna buried the visitors under an avalanche of runs, scoring 12 in the second inning alone on its way to a run-rule victory in five innings. Leading 2-0 in the bottom of the second, the Falcons plated a pair with one out to make it 4-0. A foul out put two outs on the board, but two straight walks loaded the bases, and a wild pitch let another run cross. Another walk loaded things up once again, and a bases-loaded walk put another run on the board, and Lackawanna took a 6-0 lead. That brought up Paige Pieper (First Year; Middleton, ID), who smashed a pitch to deep left center field, where it cleared the fence and cleared the bases, blowing things wide open with a grand slam. Still with two outs, and after a pitching change, the Falcons loaded the bases again, and used a two-run single, followed by a two-run error, to plate four more runs until, finally, the Dragons got the out to get out of the inning. But, the damage had been done, and the Falcons had a 14-0 lead.
 
Howard (3-15) added two runs in the third, and, after Lackawanna had scored a run in the bottom of the fourth, the Dragons hit a solo homer in the fifth, but Lackawanna never broke a sweat and got the final outs to end things early. The Falcons were led by leadoff hitter Madison Maloney (Sophomore; Scranton, PA), who was a perfect 3-for-3, scoring four runs and riving in another. Pieper was 1-for-2 with her four RBI, and Emmalee Mowery (First Year; Mechanicsburg, PA) was 1-for-2 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI. The Falcons had eleven hits, seven of which went for extra bases, and drew seven walks. Allyson Lemerise (Sophomore; Catonsville, MD) pitched four innings to pick up the win, giving up two runs on two hits and striking out a pair.
 
Game two was an entirely different game, as both squads were locked in a close, hard-fought contest right until the final inning. Howard scored runs in the first and second innings to take an early 2-0 lead, only to see the Falcons tie the game in the bottom frame, and then take the lead on a double from Brianna Dinice (First Year; Terryville, CT) in the bottom of the third. Howard tied the game in the top of the fifth on a line drive single to left field, and neither team could break the tie until the bottom of the sixth.
 
In that frame, A one-out walk from Lemerise gave the Falcons a lifeline. She stole second to get into scoring position. Maloney slapped a ball to third, which was knocked down to the dirt by the third base player. That little hesitation between the ball hitting the dirt and the third base player picking it up was just enough time for Maloney to beat the throw and put runners on the corners, still with one out. A stolen base for Maloney made it runners on second and third, bringing up Mowery. Mowery grounded back to the pitcher, who turned and fired to first for the out. While that happened, Lemerise took off down the third base line. The Dragons wheeled and fired the ball home, but a diving Lemerise avoided the tag and slapped the plate to give Lackawanna the 4-3 advantage.
 
In the top of the seventh, Alivia Graber (Sophomore; North Syracuse, NY) retired the side in order to give Lackawanna the victory, seemingly out of nothing. Graber, after a tough first two innings, pitched well for the Falcons, giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out four in seven innings for the win.
 
Maloney remained hot, going 2-for-4, while Alexis Semanek (Sophomore; Wilkes-Barre, PA) was 2-for-2 with a run scored. Dinice was 1-for-3 with the run driven in, and Mowery went 1-for-2 with the RBI.
 
The Falcons have now won ten straight games, the most the Falcons have run off in a row since the 2017 season, where Lackawanna won 14 straight games en route to the Region XIX championship. Lackawanna is back to work on Thursday, March 28^th, with a doubleheader at SUNY Orange. First pitch of the two games is scheduled for 3:00pm ET in Middletown, NY.