4/18/24
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Skylar Borthwick had six total hits and seven total RBI, while Alivia Graber and Allyson Lemerise pitched two excellent games to help Lackawanna College softball sweep past County College of Morris in doubleheader action on a cloudy Thursday afternoon at Scranton HS softball field. The Falcons won game one, 8-3, before taking game two 14-1 in five innings.
 
The Falcons (27-12, 5-3) were dominant throughout the afternoon on offense, getting hits when they needed them, while both Graber (Sophomore; North Syracuse, NY) and Lemerise (Sophomore; Catonsville, MD) were both in control on the bump. Borthwick (Sophomore; Pittston, PA) had five-run scoring hits across both games, driving in seven for the day.
 
Game one saw the Falcons get the scoring started in the bottom of the first. Madison Maloney (Sophomore; Scranton, PA) drew a leadoff walk to get the Falcons a baserunner. Maloney moved to second on a ground out, and was nearly picked off, but just beat the tag at second. She was rewarded two batters later, when a two-out single from Morgan McVicar (First Year; Blakely, PA) went to center, scoring Maloney. However, McVicar was thrown out at second, trying to stretch the single.
 
The Falcons had a runner at third with two outs in the second, but couldn't convert a run, but the bottom of the third saw Lackawanna get the offense up and running. Maloney led the inning off with a single, then got to second on a wild pitch. A double from Mazzie Musgrave (First Year; Old Forge, PA) scored Maloney to make it 2-0, Falcons, and a single from Borthwick scored Musgrave to make it 3-0. Back-to-back walks loaded the bases, still with nobody out, and a Paige Pieper (First Year; Middleton, ID) RBI-single to center made it 4-0. A sac fly, followed eventually by a ground out, added two more, bringing the Lackawanna lead to 6-0 after three.
 
Morris (7-11, 3-9) got itself on the board in the top of the fourth, singling to start the inning, and then launching a homerun to left field to cut the deficit to 6-2. Graber, who had retired nine of her first ten batters to that point, recovered to get three straight outs and keep the inning from getting any worse. The Falcons got a run back in the bottom of the fourth, when a Borthwick liner to left was deep enough to score a run from third, making it 7-2, Falcons.
 
In the top of the fifth, Morris got a runner to second with one out, but a foul out put two away, and a huge swinging strikeout stranded the runner. Lackawanna wasted two baserunners with two outs in the bottom frame, and Morris got a run back in the top of the sixth, cashing in a one-out double with a run-scoring single to make close within 7-3. But, much like she did after the homer, Graber buckled down and got a fly out and a ground out to end the inning before it could escalate.
 
Lackawanna added another run in the bottom of the sixth, after Maloney doubled to lead the inning off, then Borthwick doubled with one-out to score Maloney and make it 8-3.
 
Graber managed to pitch around a leadoff walk in the top of the seventh, using a pair of strikeouts to end the game and give the Falcons the win. Graber allowed three runs on six hits, striking out six batters in her seven innings.
 
Borthwick finished game one 2-for-3, with three RBI and a run scored. Maloney was 2-for-3 with three runs, while McVicar and Musgrave each had a hit and a run driven in. The Falcons had ten total hits and just one strikeout.
 
Game two was a good start for the visitors, with back-to-back hits opening the game, the second a double that made it second-and-third with nobody out. A ground out to second scored a run and made it 1-0, Titans. Lemerise, in the circle for the Falcons, managed to settle in, getting a line out and a swinging strike out to end the inning.
 
The Falcons immediately answered in the bottom frame, with Maloney tripling to lead the inning off, and Borthwick singling deep in the hole at short to tie the game at 1-1. McVicar followed with a single, and Lemerise gave Lackawanna a lead with a two-run double to left to make it 3-1, Falcons. A one-out double from Aria Reyes (Sophomore; Allentown, PA) scored Lemerise, and a subsequent ground out made it 5-1, Falcons after the first.
 
Lemerise struck out the side in the top of the second, and Lackawanna added a run in the bottom frame with a Lemerise sac fly to right, then scored three more in the bottom of the third, courtesy of RBI-doubles from Kaislyn Currie (First Year; Gibbons, AB) and Maloney, as well as a run-scoring single from Borthwick, increasing the Lackawanna lead to 9-1.
 
After a quick top frame in the fourth, where Lemerise struck out two more batters, the Falcons got the bottom half going with more offense. Two singles, followed by a walk, loaded the bases with nobody out. Currie singled to left to score the tenth run of the game, and Brianna Dinice (First Year; Terryville, CT) followed with a run-scoring single to make it 11-1. An RBI-ground out was the first out, and then a two-out single from Borthwick scored another pair of runs to stretch the Lackawanna advantage out to 14-1.
 
Lemerise gave up a two-out walk, followed by a single, in the top of the fifth, but got a strikeout looking to end the game early via run-rule, giving Lackawanna College the sweep over Morris. Lemerise won her seventh game of the year, giving up one run on three hits in five innings, while striking out nine batters. Borthwick was a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored, while Lemerise was 2-for-2 with three RBI and two runs scored. Maloney went 2-for-4with two runs scored, and Currie was 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs.
 
The Falcons move to 5-3 in Region XIX play, and currently sit at fourth in the region standings. Lackawanna College hops right back into Region XIX DII play on Friday, April 19^th, when the Falcons travel to take on Raritan Valley CC for a doubleheader. First pitch is at 3:30pm ET in Branchburg, NJ.