New Rochelle, NY - The Iona College Softball team stepped out of conference play for a double-header against New York rival Columbia. The Gaels used a four hit, six strikeout performance from Sarah Jackson and earned a 1-0 win. The Lions came out quickly in game two and took a 10-2 win.
Both starters were brilliant through the first four innings. Sarah Jackson for Iona (11-20, 2-6 MAAC) and Jessica Rakonza (14-30, 3-13 Ivy) combined to allow just five hits, strike out six, and strand five base runners. Jackson had three of those strikeouts and worked a 1-2-3 first inning where she induced three straight groundouts.
The Gaels got the game's lone run in the bottom of the fifth as Chelsea Sheehan started the inning with bunt single back to the pitcher. She was successfully sacrificed over as Melanie Hay dropped a perfect bunt right in front of the plate. Rachelle Harris was the next batter and she took a 1-0 pitch to left-center for a ground-rule double scoring Sheehan for a 1-0 lead. The Lions didn't have a base runner advance past second in their next two chances at the plate and Jackson closed the door with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 seventh to grab the Gaels' fourth shutout of the season. Jackson pitched her 12th complete game of the season. Rakonza took the loss with five hits, three walks and three strikeouts. Harris finished 2-for-2 and Kayla O'Neill drew two walks.
In game two, Columbia notched the scoreboard first with four runs on six hits in the second inning and all with two outs. Gaels' starter Deanne Algeo got out of the inning as she got a groundout and left the bases loaded. The Maroon & Gold came back and cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning. Courtney Christie, who sat out game one, drove a 2-2 pitch deep over the centerfield fence for her first homerun of the season. The next batter, Kassondra Silva, ripped a single to right and moved up on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Hay picked up an RBI with a single to right-center and it was 4-2 Lions.
Silva took over the pitching duties as Algeo tossed just two innings with six hits, four runs, all earned, and a walk. Despite the change, Columbia added three more runs in the third on four hits, and an error to push their advantage to 7-2. Single runs in the next three innings gave the Lions all the runs they needed as starter Erica Clauss surrendered just the two runs, both earned, on nine hits with a walk and four strikeouts in the win. She also stranded seven runners.
Iona will make up one game Thursday against Wagner at 3:30 pm in Staten Island, NY. The Gaels and Seahawks were originally scheduled to play on April 15.
