New Rochelle, NY - Sacred Heart out lasted the Iona College baseball team 14-10 in non conference action at Salesian Field. The Gaels (1-20) dropped its 2008 home opener.
Iona pounded out a season-high 10 runs and 15 hits but was unable to keep the Pioneers (2-19) off the scoreboard.
Sacred Heart tallied four tuns in the first inning to take an early lead. Rookie 3B
Michael Sevilla drove in Iona's first tally in the bottom of the second inning, plating junior C
Andrew Wernicki with a sacrifice fly.
The Pioneers tacked on a run in the top of the fourth to take a 5-1 advantage. The Maroon & Gold closed the gap to two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Rookie 1B
Chris Griffin recorded his first collegiate home run, a long shot that cleared the left field fence. Griffin also drove in sophomore LF
Andrew Passerelle.
The visitors got the two runs back in the next half inning, however, and led 7-3 after four and a half innings. The Gaels continued to work the Sacred Heart bullpen with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Wernicki drove in the first run with an RBI infield single. He hustled down the line and dove into first base as the Pioneer 1B just missed him with a swipe tag. The next batter - Griffin - drove in two more runs with a triple into the gap in left center field.
Sacred Heart broke the game open with a six-run two-out rally in the top of the sixth inning. After back-to-back walks to open the inning, rookie RHP
Sean Darsee was relieved by classmate RHP Matt Casino. Casino misplayed a sacrifice bunt attempt to load the bases. He bared down and struck out the next batter and induced a shallow pop fly before the floodgates opened. A two-run single was followed by an RBI double, a walk and another two-run single. The final run was scored on a Gael error before senior RHP
Shawn Walsh came on to record the final out of the inning.
The Gaels would not give up, however, cutting the 13-6 deficit to just three runs with four tallies in the bottom of the sixth. Senior CF
Paul Salerno started the rally with a bunt single to lead off the inning. Two batters later senior DH
Allie Abbatiello drove him home with an RBI single to left. After being pushed to third base by senior SS
Joe Lorenzo's double, Abbatiello scored on a sacrifice fly by sophomore 2B
Mike Walraven. Back-to-back run scoring hits by Passerelle and Wernicki capped the scoring in the game for Iona.
Five players recorded two or more hits in the game led by Passerelle, Wernicki and sophomore RF
Chris Leahy's three hits a piece. Lorenzo and Griffin added two hits in the win. Passerelle was 3-for-5 with three runs scored an and RBI. Griffin drove in a season-high four runs in the loss.
Red shirt freshman starter
Tom Sweeney (0-4) took the loss. He recorded two outs in the first inning and was charged with four runs (two earned) before coming out of the game with an injury. Walsh tossed 1.1 innings allowed one hit and struck out two batters and was the lone pitcher out of six to not give up a run in the game.
Designated three-inning starter Mike Drowne (1-0) earned the win in his first appearance of the season. He also served as the offensive star with four RBI and a run scored while going 3-for-6 from the plate.
The Gaels return to MAAC action and complete a four-game homestand in a weekend series with Marist on Saturday and Sunday. The two teams meet in a doubleheader at Salesian Field on Apr. 6 beginning at 12:00 pm.
