3/22/26
 
THROOP, Pa. – Hoping to avoid the potential thunder and lightning later, Lackawanna College baseball made its own thunder, crushing back-to-back home runs in a four-run fourth inning to burst past Raritan Valley CC, 11-1, in eight innings on a cloudy and rainy Sunday afternoon at Mid Valley HS, completing the series sweep for the Falcons on the weekend.
 
Lackawanna College (8-10, 3-0) was locked in a 1-1 game heading into the bottom of the fourth inning, with Raritan (9-5, 0-3) having had a little more going on offense (5 hits vs. 2 hits, 5 LOB vs. 1 LOB) through the first 3.5 innings. With one out and the Falcons needing a spark, Hunter Austra (Larksville, PA) stepped to the plate. On a 2-2 pitch, Austra went the other way, lifting a fly ball to right-center that cleared the fence for a 2-1 lead for the Falcons. Left-handed batter Kolton Haifley (New Oxford, PA) followed, swinging at the first pitch he saw and driving it over the right field fence with ease, helping the Falcons go back-to-back and pushing their advantage to 3-1.
 
It was the first two runs of a four-run fourth, with Jake Virbitsky (Media, PA) adding a two-run double with the bases loaded later that inning. That was all that starter Makai Day (South Williamsport, PA) needed, scattering five hits over five innings with eight strikeouts for his first win of the season. Raritan was wasteful, collecting six hits and drawing five walks on the day, but the Lions left ten batters on base, including stranding the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the sixth inning.
 
Lackawanna pushed the game into run-rule territory, starting in the bottom of the seventh. With Raritan heading to the bullpen, Lackawanna quickly loaded the bases with nobody out. A fielder's choice forced an out at home, but Lackawanna broke through thanks to a two-run single from Mark Zuppo (Garnet Valley, PA) that shot right back up the middle. A balk with the bases loaded scored another run, making it 8-1, Falcons, and Julian Abreu (Philadelphia, PA) lifted a sac fly to center to score another run, giving Lackawanna a 9-1 lead heading into the eighth.
 
After Daniel Jacobs (West Chester, PA) bounced back from a leadoff walk to keep the Lions quiet, the Falcons struck for two more in the bottom of the eighth, using back-to-back bases-loaded walks to make it 11-1 and trigger the run-rule victory.
 
Day picked up the win on the bump, while Haifley went 3-for-5 with three runs, two doubles, and the solo homer. Virbitsky was 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Deacon Brown (Williamsport, PA) was 2-for-4 with a solo homer in the first inning. Deacon is up to eight homers on the season, first on the Falcons. Zuppo scored two runs, as did catcher Danny Stickney (Secane, PA).
 
Lackawanna now sits atop Region XIX DII with a 3-0 record after the first weekend of play. The Falcons have a pair of non-region contests against Division III opponents this week, starting on Tuesday, March 24^th, with an away contest at RCSJ Cumberland, currently the #8 DIII team in the country. First pitch is set for 3:00pm ET in Vineland, NJ. The Falcons will then take on the top-ranked DIII team in the country and the four-time defending national champion, RCSJ Gloucester, on Wednesday, March 25^th, at 3:30pm ET in Sewell, NJ.