5/3/24
 
ROSSVILLE, Md. – Lackawanna College baseball won a pair of games on the road at CCBC Essex in Maryland on Friday afternoon, running its end-of-season winning streak to nine-in-a-row leading into the postseason. The Falcons won 7-2 in game one, then hung on for a 3-2 win in game two.
 
The Falcons (29-21) got two solid outings from its pitching staff, with Nicholas Finarelli (Redshirt First Year; Hunlock Creek, PA) and Nicholas Biasi (First Year; Hazle Township, PA) combined to limit Essex (19-25) to just three hits in game one, while four different Falcons limited the Knights to five hits and two unearned runs in game two.
 
In game one, Lackawanna built a 6-0 lead through the 5.5 innings of play, and hung on for a five-run victory. Michael Miller (Sophomore; Lafayette Hill, PA) was 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Aydan McNelly (Sophomore; Limerick, PA) was a perfect 3-for-3 with a run scored and two RBI. Brooks Henderson IV (First Year; Feasterville, PA) went 2-for-3 with a run scored and a run driven in. Finarelli got his sixth win of the year, giving up just one hit and striking out a pair in four innings of action. Biasi pitched three innings in relief, striking out six and giving up two hits and two runs.
 
Essex took the lead in game two with a one-out single in the bottom of the first, but Lackawanna grabbed the lead on a two-out single from Nick Matson (Redshirt First Year; Nanticoke, PA), clearing the bases loaded with two outs to put the Falcons ahead, 3-1.
 
Essex got an unearned run home in the third to make it 3-2, but that would be it for the scoring, as Jace Cunnane (Sophomore; Clarkstown, NY), Ty Federici (Sophomore; Dallas, PA), Nathan Russell (Sophomore; Drexel Hill, PA), and Mason Sike (First Year; McKees Rocks, PA), who combined for eleven strike outs. Cunnane struck out six, giving up two runs on three hits, picking up his fourth win of the year. McNelly went 2-for-4, while Matson had two RBI.
 
Lackawanna College has now won nine in a row, and the Falcons will now turn their attention to the Region XIX DII Baseball tournament next weekend. Times and schedules will be announced early this week.