4/11/26
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – The Lackawanna College baseball offense combined for 21 runs in two games, while the pitching staff held down County College of Morris in a Region XIX Division II doubleheader on Saturday afternoon, as the Falcons won the day with scores of 11-3 and 10-0 at Scranton HS baseball field.
 
The Falcons (13-19-1, 7-5) had 21 hits across both games, which included three home runs, two doubles, and one triple, while posting 12 walks. Morris (2-17, 1-11) had a combined 21 strikeouts and just nine hits across both games.
 
In game one, starter Josiah Williams (Emmaus, PA) kept Morris off the basepaths, aside from a walk, through the first two innings, and Lackawanna broke through in the home half of the second inning. A two-out single from Jose Soquiel (Hazleton, PA) gave the Falcons a runner, and he made it to second on a passed ball. A walk put two on, and Quinten Jones (Harrisburg, PA) singled in Soquiel to get the Falcons on the board. Lackawanna added two more on a single from Julian Abreu (Philadelphia, PA) that made it 3-0, Falcons, after two.
 
Morris loaded the bases after an error and two walks, but back-to-back strikeouts stranded those runners and kept the Titans off the board. An RBI single from Danny Stickney (Secane, PA), followed by a wild pitch, scored a pair and made it 5-0, Falcons, heading into the fourth inning.
 
The visitors put two on with two outs in the top half, but Williams got another big strikeout to keep them from scoring, and Lackawanna struck again in the home half, this time getting a leadoff homer from Abreu, followed by an RBI single from Sean Moore (Philadelphia, PA) and a sac fly that pushed it to 8-0, Falcons. Later in the inning, an error at third with two outs let another run score, and the Falcons took a 9-0 lead into the fifth.
 
Abreu singled in another run in the fifth, and the Falcons had the bases loaded with two outs, but came up empty with a pop out. Morris used a single and a triple to start the sixth inning to get on the board, but Williams got two more strikeouts and a ground out to keep the Titans from rallying anymore.
 
Lackawanna added one more run on a sac fly in the home half, and Morris scored two with two outs in the top of the seventh on back-to-back singles, before reliever Austin Ludwig (Schwenksville, PA) got a strikeout to end game one.
 
Williams picked up the game one win, allowing just one run on four hits in six innings and striking out ten. Abreu was 3-for-3 with a run and four RBIs, while Jones was 1-for-2 with two runs and two RBIs. Soquiel went 2-for-4 with two runs, and Moore posted a pair of runs.
 
The Falcons took a little longer to get the offense running in game two, but starter Makai Day (South Williamsport, PA) was great, giving up just one hit in five innings and striking out six batters for the win. Meanwhile, the Falcons used strong fourth and fifth innings to score nine of their ten runs and sprint past the Titans for the win.
 
Day pitched around two walks in the first, and Moore singled in game two's first run with one out to put the Falcons in front. Hunter Austra (Larksville, PA) doubled to put runners in scoring position with two outs, but a strikeout kept the inning from continuing.
 
The Titans got a runner to third on a single, an error, and a ground out, but Day used a strikeout to strand the runner 90 feet away. That's where the Falcons struck big in the home half. Austra looped a shot down the left field line that skipped to the fence and let him scamper all the way to third with a leadoff triple. A one-out single from Mark Zuppo (Garnet Valley, PA) scored Austra to make it 2-0, and Abreu launched a two-run shot well over the left field wall for his second homer of the doubleheader to double the lead and push it to 4-0, Falcons. Lackawanna loaded the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended the threat and cut the big rally short.
 
After a quick 1-2-3 top of the fifth, the Falcons went for six more in the bottom half. Austra led the inning off with a solo shot to the opposite field. A hard single, followed by a walk, put two on. Abreu bunted to the pitcher, but the subsequent throw to first was wide of the bag, letting two more runs score to make it 7-0, Falcons. An RBI single from Kolton Haifley (New Oxford, PA) pushed it to 8-0, and Haifley scored on a deep double to center from Deacon Brown (Williamsport, PA) that made it 9-0. Another RBI hit, this one a single from Moore, pushed the Falcons over double-digits at 10-0 after five innings.
 
Morris couldn't do anything with a two-out walk in the sixth, and the Falcons couldn't take advantage of a walk and an error, grounding into a double-play to end the home half.
 
In the seventh, two-straight singles gave the Titans a pair of baserunners. A fly out to right was the first out, and, with runners in scoring position, Morris had a chance to get something across, but back-to-back strikeouts ended the game and preserved the shut-out.
 
Day picked up his second win of the season, while Austra went 3-for-4 at the dish with two runs, a double, a triple, and a homer. Haifley had two hits and a run scored, while Abreu had two runs and two RBIs. Moore had two hits and two RBIs.
 
Lackawanna has now won four-in-a-row and sits at 7-5 in Region XIX DII play, third-place. The Falcons have a pair of non-region contests set for Sunday, April 12^th, with a doubleheader at home against SUNY Onondaga CC. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00pm ET at Scranton HS baseball field.