4/25/24
 
FREDERICK, Md. – Lackawanna College softball was dominant in the circle, and the offense posted two separate six-run innings, one in each game, to propel the Falcons to a doubleheader sweep on the road at Frederick CC on Thursday afternoon in non-region NJCAA softball action at Frederick. The Falcons won game one, 11-4, before blanking the Cougars in game two, 8-0, in five innings.
 
The Falcons (35-14) were led by the two excellent pitching performances from Brianna Dinice (First Year; Terryville, CT) and Alivia Graber (Sophomore; North Syracuse, NY), who both shut down the home squad, while the Lackawanna offense hit two homeruns and had ten extra-base hits all together through both games.
 
Lackawanna fell behind 2-0 in the top of the first in game one, but the Falcons got going in the third with a two-run single from Morgan McVicar (First Year; Blakely, PA), then took the lead on a single from Aria Reyes (Sophomore; Allentown, PA), and scored two more on back-to-back doubles from Mazzie Musgrave (First Year; Old Forge, PA) and Alexis Semanek (Sophomore; Wilkes-Barre, PA), highlighting the six-run inning that put Lackawanna ahead 6-2. The Falcons led 7-2 into the bottom of the sixth, and Frederick scored a pair to close the gap, but Lackawanna tacked on four more in the top of the seventh, highlighted by a two-run triple from Madison Maloney (Sophomore; Scranton, PA), and Dinice pitched around a leadoff walk to get a pop up, and then a double-play to end the game. She got the win, her ninth on the year, giving up four runs on four hits and striking out six in seven innings. Semanek finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, while McVicar went 2-for-5 with three RBI, and Maloney also was 2-for-5 with two RBI.
 
After a quiet top frame, where the Falcons wasted Maloney as a leadoff walk, Frederick (12-16) got itself going in the bottom half of game one. A two-out walk was followed up by a towering drive to center field for a homerun, giving the Cougars the 2-0 lead. Dinice got a strikeout to end the inning.
 
Neither team had much in the way of offense in the second, but the third inning was where Lackawanna broke through. A leadoff walk, plus a one-out double, put runners on second and third for McVicar, who singled sharply on a ball hit back up the middle, tying the game at 2-all. Allyson Lemerise (Sophomore; Catonsville, MD) doubled to make it second-and-third again, and Reyes initially pushed the go-ahead run across on a single deep at short. An erratic throw to first let Reyes advance and scored Lemerise, pushing the Falcon lead to 4-2. Musgrave doubled to score Reyes, and, after a ground out put two down, Semanek doubled to score Musgrave, making it 6-2, Falcons, after 2.5 innings.
 
McVicar added a solo homer to left in the top of the fourth, her team-high sixth homerun of the season, and Brianna Dinice was cruising into the sixth. But, Frederick scored a pair, thanks to a one-run double, then a two-out single on the infield that cut the deficit to 7-4, before Dinice induced a pop-up to the right side to get out of trouble.
 
Lackawanna's offense responded, using a leadoff walk, followed by a single, and a wild pitch, putting runners on second and third with nobody out. The Cougars got a fly out to center, followed by a strikeout, to put two away, but Semanek delivered the knockout blow with a single back up the middle to score a pair of runs. A single put two on, and Maloney doubled hard down the right field line to score two more, putting the Falcons ahead 11-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
 
A leadoff walk was followed with a pop out, so there was just one out when the Cougars tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Dinice picked up the ball and fired to first base for the out, and the runner advanced to second, but then she rounded the bag hard and strayed down towards third. That sliver was enough for Lackawanna, as the ball was fired inward to second base, and the Falcons made the tag before the runner could get back, ending the game on a bizarre double play.
 
In game two, Graber had one of her best outings of her career, allowing just three hits and no runs through five innings, striking out four. Graber had a no-hitter through three innings, and the Falcons scored six runs in the third inning to highlight the shut-out victory that ended early via run-rule. Lemerise was 2-for-2 with four RBI, three coming on a homerun, while McVicar, Semanek, and Jillian Heimberger (First Year; Unionville, PA) all had two hits to help the Falcons get the win.
 
Lackawanna hit the front early in the first inning, using some two-out magic from McVicar, Lemerise, and Reyes, all hitting back-to-back-to-back singles to put Lackawanna up 2-0 heading into the bottom of the first.
 
In the top of the third, Lackawanna's offense really clicked into gear. Skylar Borthwick (Sophomore; Pittston, PA) singled to start the inning, and McVicar singled to put two on. That brought Lemerise up, who hit a three-run homer to left field, her fifth homerun of the year, to give Lackawanna a 5-0 lead. Two straight outs threatened to end the inning after that, but Heimberger singled with two down, then scored when Semanek doubled her home. Emmalee Mowery (First Year; Mechanicsburg, PA) singled home Semanek to make it 7-0, and Maloney doubled Mowery in to give the Falcons the 8-0 advantage. Graber struck out the side in the bottom half, and Lackawanna led by eight after three.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Frederick broke up the no-hitter with a leadoff single. A fielder's choice made the first out, but an infield single put two runners on with one out. Another fielder's choice eliminated a runner at second, and Graber got a pop up to second to get out of trouble.
 
Into the bottom of the fifth, and with Frederick needing to score to keep the game going, the home side did get a leadoff baserunner after a hit batter, and then a single put two on with nobody out. Graber induced a ground ball to herself for a fielder's choice, which she tossed to third to get the lead runner. Another fielder's choice, this time to get the out at second, put two away, and Graber got the final out with a swinging strikeout, handing the Falcons the run-rule victory.
 
Lackawanna College has now won 35 games, the most the Falcons have won in the 13 years that coach Jeff Pittsman has been at the helm. The wins are second-most all-time for the Falcons, second only to the 2001 squad, which won 36 games on its way to the NJCAA National Tournament. This year's squad has one more series left for the regular season, as the Falcons host the WVU Potomac State Catamounts for three-games this coming weekend. The first two games will be Saturday, April 27^th, as the teams will play in a doubleheader starting at 12:00pm ET at Scranton HS softball field. The third and final game will be on Sunday, April 28^th, at 11:00am ET at Scranton HS softball field. Lackawanna will then compete in the Region XIX DII Softball Tournament next weekend at Mercer County CC in West Windsor Township, NJ.