SCRANTON, Pa. - The Northampton Baseball team picked up a quality win on Thursday, downing NJCAA Division II Lackawanna College, 9-1, at PNC Field, in a non-conference matchup.

The Spartans got on the board in the top of the 2nd, when Christian Del Toro (Trujillo Alto, PR/Perkiomen School ) scored on a throwing error following a single from Cody Herestofa (Brookhaven, PA/Sun Valley).  The Falcons tied the contest with a run in the bottom of the 2nd, but the Spartans opened things up with 4 runs in the 5th inning, to take a commanding 5-1 lead. 

Angel Lopez (Santurce, PR/Perkiomen School) and Michael Ferrara (Cresco, PA/Pocono Mt. East) each had RBI singles in the 5th and Tyler Melko (Knoxville, PA/Cowanesque Valley) smashed a 2-run double to account for the four runs. Northampton added 2 runs in the 8th highlighted by a RBI single from Cody Brown (Tunkhannock, PA/Tunkhannock) and two in the 9th off of RBI singles from Franklin Ramirez (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) and Brett Marks (Cooper City, FL/Cooper City (FL)). 

Ramirez finished 4 for 5 with 2 stolen bases, Melko was 2 for 4, Del Toro was 2 for 4 with a stolen base, Herestofa was 2 for 4 and Marks finished 1 for 1 to lead the Spartans, who had 13 hits as a team. 

It was a staff day on the bump for the Spartans, with nine different pitchers seeing action.  Brendon Caraway (Riegelsville, PA/Palisades) got the win, improving to 5-2 overall.  

The Spartans improve to 29-5 overall, while Lackawanna falls to 33-15.

5th ranked Northampton is scheduled for a 4-game homestand this weekend, hosting Monroe College (NY) in a doubleheader on Saturday and Union County College (NJ) in a doubleheader on Sunday.  Please check in with nccspartans.com for updates regarding time changes or cancelations due to the projected weather for this weekend.