4/21/26
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – In a battle of streaking teams, Lackawanna College baseball fell in a pair of games, dropping the doubleheader to Monroe CC by scores of 8-6 and 12-7 on Tuesday afternoon in non-region action at Scranton HS baseball field.
 
The Falcons (19-21-1) came in as winners of ten games on the bounce, while the Tribunes (25-6) had won nine-straight coming into Tuesday, and both teams played like it was a playoff contest in each game.
 
Game one saw Monroe CC jump out ahead 3-0 in the second, and the Tribunes were up 5-0 after 3.5 innings. The Falcons responded with a big home half in the fourth, all coming with two outs. Jose Soquiel (Hazleton, PA) had an RBI single to score the first run for Lackawanna, a hit batter scored another, and Deacon Brown (Williamsport, PA) hit a two-run single to get within 5-4. A passed ball tie the game, and Jake Virbitsky (Media, PA) singled home the go-ahead run to make it 6-5, Falcons, after four innings.
 
Monroe managed to pull back out in front, using some two-out magic of its own, getting a pair of RBI singles to get ahead 7-6, heading into the bottom of the fifth inning.
 
After Lackawanna stranded a runner, Monroe scored another run in the top of the sixth, using a two-out double to push the lead out to 8-6. The Falcons would not get another baserunner the rest of the way, handing the Tribunes the win in game one.
 
Relief pitcher Patrick Genco (Lutherville, MD) was tagged with the loss, allowing two runs on three hits in the crucial fifth inning. Soquiel and Mark Zuppo (Garnet Valley, PA) each had two hits, while Brown had a pair of RBIs for the Falcons.
 
Game two was a similarly close game, this time with the Falcons jumping out ahead early and Monroe coming back to take the lead, but the Tribunes scored five runs in the final two innings to build a lead that Lackawanna couldn't overcome, while also rallying from a nearly disastrous six errors.
 
After Monroe scored a run in the first inning, the Falcons rallied to score three in the home half, taking advantage of an error from the catcher to tie the game, and then using a two-run single from Virbitsky that made it 3-1 after one inning.
 
A two-out single from Monroe cut it to 3-2 in the second, but the Falcons got another run after an error placed Brown at third and he scored on a wild pitch.
 
The Tribunes jumped in front with a four-run third inning, tying the game with a two-run homer and then taking the lead on a two-run error in left field that made it 6-4, Monroe CC.
 
Monroe added another run in the top half of the fourth, using a two-run single to get ahead 7-4, but Lackawanna cut the gap with two runs in the home half, using an RBI single from Brown and a sac fly to pull within 7-6.
 
In the top of the sixth, Monroe CC added a pair of crucial insurance runs, using an RBI single and a bases-loaded walk to get ahead 9-6. The Falcons used a sac fly in the bottom frame to cut the deficit to two, but the Tribunes scored three more in the seventh, using an RBI triple and an error at third to get ahead 12-7 heading into the home half of the seventh.
 
The Falcons got a leadoff walk to get the bottom frame going, but a 6-4-3 double play ball put two outs on the board, and a strikeout ended the inning and gave the Tribunes the doubleheader victory.
 
Pitcher Geoffrey Moore (Erie, CO) gave up five runs on five hits in 1.2 innings for the loss, his first of the year. Lackawanna batters drew ten walks but struck out eleven times, while the Falcons only had two hits. Brown had two RBIs and Zuppo had two runs scored, while Virbitsky drove in a pair of runs.
 
Lackawanna College baseball is back to action on Friday, April 24^th, in another non-region doubleheader at home against NJCAA Division I Harford CC. The first pitch of the doubleheader is set for 1:00pm ET at Scranton HS baseball field.