3/23/25
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – Lackawanna College softball and the visiting Red Barons from SUNY Corning split the spoils in the doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Scranton HS softball field, with the Falcons winning game one on a walk-off, 9-8, and the Barons hanging on for the win in game two, 6-5.
 
The Falcons (9-13) had to make comebacks in both games, rallying from an 8-5 sixth-inning deficit in game one, and then almost completing a comeback from 6-2 down in game two. Lackawanna had 32 combined hits, which included six combined extra-base knocks, but Corning (6-8) kept pushing the Falcons in the early innings, scoring a combined 13 runs through the first four innings of both games.
 
The Barons raced to a 7-4 lead through the first three innings and were still ahead 8-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning. Catcher Paige Pieper (Middleton, ID) led the bottom frame off with a towering drive to left field for her first home run of the season, bringing the Falcons within two runs at 8-6. A single brought the tying run to the plate, forcing Corning to make a pitching change.
 
Lindsey Tasker (Clarks Summit, PA) welcomed the new pitcher with a double into the right-center gap, putting runners on second and third with one out and bringing the game-winning run to the plate. A strikeout put one away, but Emmalee Mowery (Mechanicsburg, PA) singled to center to score two runs and tie the game. Mowery stole second, then advanced to third on a single from Jillian Heimberger (Unionville, PA).
 
With runners on the corners and just one out, Mia Scalese (Moscow, PA) got to play hero, smacking the ball to the left side. The Corning shortstop hesitated and clutched as she gathered the ball, then inexplicably threw to first instead of home, allowing Mowery to cross the plate for the game-winning run.
 
Heimberger was one of two Falcons' players with three hits, going 3-for-5 with a run scored, while Kizbelth Ortiz (New Britain, CT) went 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Mowery was 2-for-4 with four RBIs, Pieper was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and Tasker went 2-for-4 with two runs. Heimberger picked up the win, pitching all seven innings and striking out four, while giving up eight runs on eleven hits.
 
After Corning took a 2-0 lead in the first, the Falcons responded with two of their own, coming off a two-run double from Laniah Tasker (Chambersburg, PA) to center in the bottom of the first. The Red Barons responded immediately in the second, plating four more runs on three straight RBI hits to make it 6-2. The Falcons got two more runs in the bottom half on a Mowery single to center, but Corning tacked on another thanks to a throwing error for the Falcons in the top of the third, as the visitors took a 7-4 lead after 2.5 innings of action.
 
Heimberger retired the side in order in the fifth, and Lackawanna set itself up with the bases loaded and just one out in the bottom half. A fielder's choice forced the out at home, but then a bases-loaded walk forced in run to cut it to 7-5, Corning. Mowery came up, but she flew out to right, stranding the runners.
 
Corning added a run in the sixth on a two-out single to left with runners on the corners, but a liner was caught by Scalese to keep the damage to a minimum into the bottom of the sixth. Corning got back-to-back singles in the seventh, but Heimberger got a pop out and then a sharp double-play, as Isabella Rodriguez (Lancaster, PA) snagged a liner and flipped back to Tasker at second to double off the runner and set the Falcons up for the dramatic win in the bottom half.
 
The Red Barons held another lead in game two, thanks in part to getting seven walks and three wild pitches from Lackawanna starter Brianna Dinice (Terryville, CT), taking a 6-2 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning. The Falcons had already stranded eight runners coming into the inning, but got off to a great start immediately when Scalese squeezed a double out of a hard-hit ball to center, hustling into second to slide in under the tag for two. A one-out single from Mowery scored her to make it 6-3, then Kaislyn Currie (Gibbons, AB) doubled to center to put runners on second and third, with one out, and bring the tying run to the plate.
 
Heimberger singled to left to score Mowery and advance Currie, and a sac fly to center from Laniah Tasker scored Currie to bring the Falcons within 6-5 with two outs. Pieper hit a pinch hit single to left to put the go-ahead run on base, but a ground out to second stranded the runners and kept the Falcons from tying it up.
 
Scalese, who came on in relief to start the fifth and was great for the Falcons, struck out a pair and then induced a foul pop out down the first base line to fire up the Falcons for the bottom half.
 
Lindsey Tasker reached on a single to right to get the tying run aboard, but she was caught stealing on the next pitch, failing to dodge the tag attempt. Scalese, batting now with one out, scorched a shot to right, but the outfielder was there to make the catch. With two down, a pop up to left was the game-ender, giving the Barons the doubleheader split.
 
Heimberger was 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Laniah Tasker, Currie, and Mowery were all 2-for-4 on the day. Mowery had two runs, Currie had two runs, and Dineen went 2-for-4 at the bottom of the lineup. Dinice took the loss, giving up six runs on just four hits, but walking seven and hitting three batters.
 
The Barons loaded the bases in the top of the first with a single and two walks. Dinice struck out a pair to put two outs on the board, but a wild pitch, followed by two more walks, made it 2-0. A single to left pushed a third run across, before a pop up to Dinice ended the inning.
 
The Falcons answered in the bottom half, thanks to an RBI ground out from Currie, but couldn't do anything else in the first. Lackawanna stranded a pair of hitters in the second, wasting back-to-back singles with two outs, but got another run home in the third, trading an out for a run on a ground out with runners on the corners and one out to make it 3-2. They'd strand that remaining runner to close out the third inning.
 
Corning led off the fourth with a triple, got a walk to put runners on the corners, and almost scored on a wild pitch, but Laniah Tasker made a great relay to Dinice covering at home for the out. A hit batter, followed by a single, loaded the bases with that one out. Back-to-back bases-loaded walks forced in two runs, and a sac fly to left pushed a third across, before a fielder's choice ended the inning to make it 6-2, Red Barons.
 
The Falcons wasted two base runners in the bottom of the fourth, then stranded two more runners in the fifth, still trailing 6-2 heading into the sixth. Scalese pitched around double that was smoked to left with one out, getting an assist from Mowery in center on an excellent snag on a liner for the second out, eventually forcing the game into the bottom of the sixth and setting up the final 1.5 innings.
 
Lackawanna College has one day off, then gets right back to action on Tuesday, March 25^th, when the Falcons travel to take on PSU Hazleton for a doubleheader starting at 2:00pm ET in Hazleton, PA. It'll be the first of five doubleheaders scheduled for the Falcons in seven days next week.