NEW BRITAIN, CT - The Iona College baseball team dropped a 12-5 decision to Central Connecticut State Wednesday afternoon. Junior C Chris Griffin led the Gaels with three hits and three RBI.
Iona struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. Freshman DH Kyle Charron led off with a single and senior LF Andrew Passerelle followed with a single of his own as Charron moved to third on the play. Griffin picked up his first RBI of the day with a sacrfice fly to score Charron and the Gaels led 1-0.
CCSU answered with three in the bottom of the first to take a 3-1 lead. Junior Pat Epps singled in a run and senior Tommy Meade hit a two-run home run, his sixth of the season.
In the second inning junior Sean Miller-Jones drove in a run and Allaire plated another with his second double of the game. A third run scored on an error and the Blue Devils led 6-1 after two innings.
The Gaels scored single runs in the third and fourth innings to cut the lead to 6-3. Passerelle opened the third with a single and after moving to second was driven in by a single off Griffin's bat. In the fourth, sophomore 3B Chris Burke was hit with a pitch and moved to second on a wild pitch. After an error moved Burke to third, he came home on another CCSU wild pitch.
The Blue Devils scored three runs in the fourth inning to build a 9-3 lead. Senior Kyle Zarotney drove in a pair and senior Anthony Scialdone had an RBI double in the frame.
In the top of the fifth, Griffin doubled and was brought home by an RBI single from sophomore 1B Michael Chiaravalloti. In the seventh, senior 2B Nick Rossetti led off with a walk. He stole second and moved to third on a ground out. He scored when Griffin drove in his third run.
Three more in the fifth gave Central the 12-4 edge. Allaire drove in his second run and Epps hit a two-run home run. Iona scored one in the seventh inning.
Sophomore Anthony Castellitto (0-1) took the loss for Iona, allowing seven earned runs in 3.1 innings of work.The Gaels are back in action Saturday when they host Niagara in a double header. Game one begins at 12:00 pm.
