4/6/24
 
THROOP, Pa. – Mercer County CC hit five homers across two games, and the Vikings threw a perfect game in game two to complete a key doubleheader sweep over Lackawanna College softball on a blustery, chilled Saturday afternoon at Mid Valley HS. Game one was a narrow 9-7 loss in extra innings, while game two was an 8-0 shut-out in six innings.
 
The Falcons (21-10, 0-2) were set to open their Region XIX schedule, and rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the final two innings of game one with runs in the sixth and seventh inning, but the Vikings (19-5, 5-1) punched four runs across in the top of the eighth, then threw the Falcons out trying to stretch a double into a triple to end the game in the bottom half.  
 
Lackawanna led 3-1 after two innings, thanks to a pair of errors from the Vikings through the first two innings, but Mercer bounced back on a pair of solo homers, including the second of the game from Maya Patel, in the third to tie the game at 3-all. An error by the Falcons on the infield allowed to runs to score in the fourth, and Lackawanna was struggling to get its offense on track until the sixth inning.
 
Down 5-3 with one out, Morgan McVicar (First Year; Blakely, PA) reached when her liner to center was dropped in the outfield. McVicar stole second, but a pop out to third put two away. Emilee Dickinson (Sophomore; Hillsboro, OR) smacked a single up the middle to center to make it first and third, and a run scored when ball four to Mazzie Musgrave (First Year; Old Forge, PA) skipped past the Mercer catcher, allowing McVicar to score and cut the deficit to 5-4.
 
Then, after the Falcons got out of trouble in the top of the seventh, Lackawanna struck again. Emmalee Mowery (First Year; Mechanicsburg, PA) roped a triple to right field, the first extra-base hit on the day for the Falcons, to put a runner on third with one out. Madison Maloney (Sophomore; Scranton, PA) immediately cashed her in with a hard single to the left side, tying the game at 5-5. Maloney stole second to get into scoring position, but the Falcons couldn't get her across, striking out and then lining out to center to end the threat and head to extras.
 
In the top of the eighth, with a courtesy runner at second, an error at first allowed the runner to score and immediately give Mercer the lead back at 6-5. Later, with runners at second and third and one out, the Vikings broke it open with a two-run double to left-center field. Back-to-back singles made it 9-5, before a fly out and a ground out ended the inning. In the bottom frame, The Falcons had runners on first and second with two outs when Paige Pieper (First Year; Middleton, ID) went opposite field for a double to right, scoring the two runners and briefly giving the Falcons some life, but that life was quickly extinguished when the subsequent relay throw beat Pieper, who was trying to stretch the double into a triple, and she was hosed at third for the final out, handing Mercer the win.
 
Maloney finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and run batted in, while Dickinson, Pieper, and Mowery had the other three hits. Pieper had two RBI, and McVicar scored a pair of runs. The Falcons had just five hits, and struck out nine times. Allyson Lemerise (Sophomore; Catonsville, MD) was tagged with the loss, giving up nine runs, five earned, on eleven hits in eight innings, striking out five.
 
Game two was a much different animal for the Falcons, as the Vikings got a perfecto from pitcher Shea Krebs in the six-inning victory. A three-run homerun in the second inning busted open a 2-0 Mercer advantage, and Lackawanna's offense could never mount a comeback, as the Vikings slowly added to their lead, including scoring a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to force the run-rule in the bottom frame. The Falcons, as they had been through the first five innings, were retired in order, with the final two outs as strikeouts. In all, Lackawanna struck out eight times in its 18 at-bats.
 
Alivia Graber (Sophomore; North Syracuse, NY) picked up the loss, giving up six runs, all earned, on nine hits in four innings of work. Aria Reyes (Sophomore; Allentown, PA) came on in relief, giving up two runs on five hits in two innings. Aside from the three-run homer, Mercer also smashed a solo shot, its fourth solo homer of the afternoon in the two games, in the fourth inning.
 
Lackawanna College will look to rebound in Region XIX DII play when the Falcons host the Skylanders from Sussex County CC on Tuesday, April 9^th. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 3:30pm ET at Scranton HS Softball Field. That will be the first of four doubleheaders scheduled for next week, three of which are at home.