SCRANTON, Pa., April 9, 2019 – The Monroe College Mustangs baseball team flexed its power on Tuesday in an 18-9 victory over Lackawanna College at Lackawanna Field. Tuesday's scheduled doubleheader was not completed, as Game 2 was stopped in the top of the fifth due to darkness. The Mustangs improve to 15-18 overall with the win, while the Falcons drop to 15-13.
 
GAME 1: MONROE 18, LACKAWANNA 9
The Falcons got off to a hot start in the bottom of the first. Carson Zuber led off with a walk, and then Ryan Cole hit a two-run homer to left to quickly put the Falcons up, 2-0.
 
The Mustangs got right back into it in the top of the third. Jose Martinez led off with a walk, and then Neifi Mercedes drew a base-on-balls two batters later. A wild pitch moved both into scoring position, and then Daniel Alfonzo brought in Martinez with a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit in half. Freddy Rojas Jr. followed with a single up the middle, knocking in Mercedes to tie the game at 2-2. Joseph Encarnacion then put the Mustangs in the lead, blasting a two-run homer over the fence in left field to put Monroe on top, 4-2.
 
Manrique Mora led off the fourth with a double into right. Martinez and Gustavo Gonzalez were both then hit by pitches to load the bases. With one out, Alfonzo demolished a grand slam to left, pushing the Mustang lead out to 8-2. Rojas then singled to right, and with two outs, Iasid Bernal drew a walk. Leandy Castro then sent a triple to deep right field, scoring both runners to put the Mustangs up, 10-2.
 
The Falcons got one back in the home half of the fourth when Colin Weinert led off the frame with a solo homer to center, bringing the score to 10-3. Lackawanna later loaded the bases with one out, and a passed ball brought in another run to make it a 10-4 game. A single by Cole then plated another run to make it a five-run game.
 
After the first two batters of the fifth inning could not reach base for the Mustangs, two walks and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Encarnacion then drew another walk to bring in Mercedes to take a six-run lead. Bernal followed with a double to right, clearing the bases to take a 14-5 advantage.
 
With two outs in the top of the sixth, Gonzalez sent the third Mustangs homer of the game over the wall in left, lifting the Mustangs to a 15-5 lead.
 
Matt Clarke walked to lead off the bottom of the sixth for Lackawanna, and then Zuber doubled to get two runners in scoring position. Another double by Cole brought in a run to make it a 15-6 game, and then Zac Granger singled in another run to bring the score to 15-7. Thylar Summarell hit another single to load the bases, still with nobody out. Weinert drew a walk to bring in another run and get the Falcons within seven. Then, John Crane hit a ground ball to short, allowing Mora to turn a double play after throwing to Gonzalez at second, who sent it over to Alfonzo at first. Alfonzo then chased down another runner who was off the base between second and third, allowing another run to score, but tagging him out to turn a triple play to end the inning with Monroe up, 15-9.
 
The Mustangs got some of those runs back in the top of the seventh. After Rojas singled to lead off the inning, he managed to steal second and move to third on a bad throw. Encarnacion then singled him in to put the Mustangs back up by seven. Bernal reached on a walk, and Mora drew a walk later to load the bases. Martinez then added another walk to bring in Encarnacion to make it a 17-9 game. Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to right to bring in Bernal and put Monroe up by nine with three outs to play.
 
July Sosa earned the win in Game 1 to improve to 3-2 on the season. He struck out an impressive 13 batters across five innings in the victory. Jacob Raisigl took the loss for the Falcons to drop to 1-2.
 
Alfonzo went 2-for-3 with a grand slam, five RBIs and two runs scored in a big Game 1 for the Mustangs. Encarnacion drove in four runs after going 2-for-4 with a homer and three runs scored. Rojas finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored and an RBI. Bernal knocked in three runs and scored twice after going 2-for-3 with a double. Gonzalez batted 1-for-4 with a home run, two runs and two RBIs.
 
TUESDAY'S SECOND CONTEST WAS HALTED IN THE TOP OF THE FIFTH INNING DUE TO DARKNESS, PRIOR TO BECOMING AN OFFICIAL GAME.
 
The Mustangs return to action on Wednesday, April 10, when they host Mercer County Community College at Dick Caswell Field in New Rochelle. First pitch of the single nine-inning game is set for 3:30 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE ATHLETIC PROGRAM AT MONROE COLLEGE
The athletic program at Monroe College encompasses a total of 28 teams competing across nine sports. There are 19 varsity and junior varsity programs, as well as club men's and women's rugby, competing on the New Rochelle campus as the Monroe Mustangs (NJCAA Division I). The Monroe Express, based out of the Bronx campus as of the fall of 2017, has nine varsity and junior varsity teams competing at the NJCAA Division III level.