3/22/25
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College baseball hit five more combined home runs and scored over ten runs for the eighth time in ten games, as the Falcons defeated Delaware Tech CC in two games on Saturday afternoon at Scranton HS in Region XIX DII doubleheader action. The Falcons won game one, 11-3, then took game two, 11-6.
 
The Falcons (10-10, 3-0) had just hit four home runs the day before in a 15-8 win against Delaware Tech (7-14, 0-3) in Delaware, then followed that up with five more dingers on Saturday to complete the series sweep.
 
In game one, the Falcons built an 11-2 lead by scoring at least a run in the first five innings, using a four-run first to build the lead and steadily tacking on from there. Jake Kelleher (Exeter, PA) hit a solo homer and scored two runs, while Kenny Hirschfeld (New Hyde Park, NY) went 2-for-4 with three RBIs, and Louis Kegerreis (Murrysville, PA) was 2-for-2 with three runs and two walks. Jason Prudente (Bear Creek Twp., PA) hit a two-run homer for the Falcons. Pitcher Liam O'Leary (Souderton, PA) tied a season-high with nine strikeouts in seven innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits for his third win of the season.
 
After O'Leary retired the side to start the first inning, the Falcons wasted little time in the bottom frame, loading the bases and drawing a bases-loaded walk to score the first run. Deacon Brown (Williamsport, PA) singled home two more runs to make it 3-0, still with nobody out, and a Hirschfeld ground out scored the fourth run of the inning, giving the Falcons a 4-0 start after one.
 
O'Leary hit the first batter in the second inning, but a double play line out took out the baserunner and fired up the Falcons for the bottom half. Kelleher took a 1-2 pitch for a ride to left field for a solo homer that made it 5-0 with one out. Kegerreis doubled, made it to third, and then scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-0, Falcons. Lackawanna wanted more, but a line out with two away stranded a pair of runners.
 
After O'Leary stranded a pair of runners in the top of the third, the Falcons scored two more when Prudente launched a two-run bomb to left field, making it 8-0. Two more scored the next inning, when Hirschfeld singled home a pair with one out in the fourth, as the Falcons crossed the ten-run mark.
 
O'Leary got the first two outs of the fifth, but DTCC managed to work some two-out magic with a double and a single to score their first run of the game. Del Tech kept it going, when back-to-back wild pitches put a Del Tech player on third, and the subsequent throw went into left field, letting the run cross on the error to make it 10-2, Falcons, heading into the bottom frame. A bases loaded walk got one run back for the Falcons in the fifth, but Lackawanna made three straight outs with the bases loaded from there. DTCC added an RBI double to start the sixth and cut it to 11-3, but O'Leary struck out the side to get out of the inning, then came back out and pitched around a hit batter and an error to close things down and get the win.
 
Game two wasn't quite a carbon copy, but Lackawanna expanded to a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to three home runs, then leaned on its pitching through a nervy final three innings for the win. Kelleher was 2-for-4 with another solo homer and two RBIs. John Hughes (Hamilton, NJ) went 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBIs, hitting a long solo homer of his own. Brooks Henderson IV (Feasterville, PA) was 2-for-4 with a run scored and four RBIs, hitting a two-run home run. Trey Sajeski (Holland, PA) picked up the win, allowing four runs on four hits in four innings of work, striking out three and walking two.
 
Much like game one, Lackawanna struck early in the first inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, a wild pitch scored Kelleher, and then Henderson delivered a two-run single to right field that made it 3-0, Falcons after one.
 
Unlike game one, Del Tech had an early answer. An error let the leadoff batter on, and a hit by pitch and a single loaded the bases. A two-run single to right scored a pair of runs, and a ground out scored another run to tie the game at three heading into the second.
 
Jordan Czerniak (Levittown, PA) took it upon himself to manufacture some offense for the Falcons to lead off the inning. Czerniak reached on a perfectly placed bunt single down the third base line, then advanced to second on an error on the throw. A passed ball put him at third, then a sac fly from Kelleher scored Czerniak and gave Lackawanna the lead at 4-3. With two outs, Hughes doubled down the left field line to score two more, giving Lackawanna a 6-3 lead heading into the third.
 
Sajeski stranded a pair of runners in the third, but DTCC got to him again in the fourth. With two outs and runners on the corners, a wild pitch brought home a run to make it 6-4. Del Tech wanted more, but a strikeout with runners on the corners a few batters later ended the potential rally. That set up the big fourth inning for the Falcons.
 
Kelleher took a ride to left for the second time on the day, pounding a solo shot over the bullpen to make it 7-4. Later, with two outs, Hughes stepped in and launched a long homer to deep center field to expand the Lackawanna lead to 8-4. Brown reached on a single, still with two down, and Henderson delivered him with a two-run shot over the batting cage in left field to make it 10-4, which chased the Del Tech starter.
 
Reliever Zach Ruffing (Marlborough, MA) walked two batters and hit another to load the bases with just one out in the fifth, but got a strikeout and then a fly out to left to get himself out of trouble and strand the bases loaded. Meanwhile, a wild pitch in the bottom of the fifth scored another Lackawanna run to make it 11-4, Falcons, after five.
 
A two-out triple was followed up by an RBI double in the top of the sixth, getting Del Tech a run to cut it to 11-5. Ruffing walked another batter before striking out his final batter to end the threat.
 
After Lackawanna stranded a runner at third in the bottom of the sixth, Del Tech made life difficult for reliever Daniel Jacobs (West Chester, PA). Jacobs got two strikeouts to get the seventh going, but then walked four straight batters to force in a run. The Falcons made a change on the mound and brought in Jaden Morgan (Perkasie, PA), who grounded into a fielder's choice, as the Falcons got the force out at second and ended the game for the doubleheader sweep.
 
Lackawanna College gets back to action on Wednesday, March 26^th, when the Falcons travel to take on Delaware County CC in a single nine-inning contest. First pitch is set for 1:00pm ET in Media, PA.