4/16/24
 
ROCHESTER, NY – Logan Mote hit a two-run single to give Lackawanna a lead, and Cody Newhart hit a two-run homer to break things open in game one, helping Lackawanna baseball secure a doubleheader split in non-region action on Tuesday afternoon against Monroe CC in western NY. Game one was an 11-8 win for the Falcons, while game two was a 10-0 loss in five innings for the Falcons.
 
Mote (First Year; Branchburg, NJ) broke a 5-5 game in the fifth inning with two outs, singling through a pair of runs to give the Falcons a 7-5 advantage. The Tribunes (12-11) managed to score a run later in the bottom of the sixth, singling home a run with two outs to cut it to 7-6, but the Falcons (18-19) pushed through in the top of the seventh. A leadoff triple was rewarded when Newhart (First Year; Sandpoint, ID) crushed a two-run homer to extend the Lackawanna advantage to 9-6. Another triple put a runner in scoring position, and Jake Kelleher (First Year; Exeter, PA) delivered with a two-run single with two outs, making it an 11-6 lead for the Falcons.
 
Monroe scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh, but Nathan Russell (Sophomore; Drexel Hill, PA) pitched around trouble to keep the Falcons in front and secure the win. Aydan McNelly (Sophomore; Limerick, PA) was 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Kelleher went 3-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI. Mote was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI, and Jacob Simpson (Sophomore; Scranton, PA) drove in two runs. Christopher Hayes (First Year; Oceanside, NY) picked up the win, pitching two innings in relief, giving up two runs on two hits.
 
Lackawanna's offense could not get anything going in game two, as the Falcons struck out seven times, managed just one hit, and couldn't keep the Tribunes off the bases on defense. Monroe CC scored a pair of runs in the first, each aided by errors, then dropped six runs on the Falcons in the second, highlighted by three-straight RBI-doubles.
 
Lackawanna had a chance to get things going in the top of the first, with two walks and a hit batter loading the bases with one out. But, the Falcons struck out back-to-back times to strand the bases. Later, down 9-0 into the fourth, Two walks put a pair of Falcons on with two outs, but a ground out stranded the runners again. Another error on the Falcons in the bottom frame let the tenth run score.
 
Needing to score in the fifth, the Falcons had a one-out single, but a pick off play took that runner away, and a strike out ended the game early via run-rule. Vincent Proietto (Sophomore; Drexel Hill, PA) was the only Falcon with a hit, while David Baltrusaitis (Sophomore; Tunkhannock, PA) had a pair of walks in his two plate appearances.
 
Lackawanna College baseball has a few days of rest before starting the weekend with an important Region XIX DII series against Sussex County CC. The first game of the series is a single, nine-inning contest on Friday, April 19^th. First pitch is at 3:00pm ET at Scranton HS baseball field.