NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College baseball team earned a split of a doubleheader with Fairfield to earn the series win in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action. The Gaels homered nine times in the doubleheader on a blustery afternoon at Salesian Field.

The Gaels took the opener in dramatic fashion for the second game in a row as senior LF Andrew Passerelle hit his second straight walk-off home run to lead the Gaels to a 6-5 win. Iona rallied back from a 2-0 deficit in the first inning and a 5-3 deficit in the fifth in the seven inning victory.

The Stags tagged senior LHP Justin Wiley for two runs in the top of the first inning to take an early 2-0 lead. It was quickly erased two batters into the Gaels' half of the frame with freshman DH Kyle Charron and junior 2B Nick Rossetti hitting back-to-back solo shots to lead off the contest. The Maroon & Gold took the lead in the bottom of the second when sophomore 1B Michael Chiaravalloti hit his seventh home run of the season to make the score 3-2.

Fairfield regained its lead with two runs in the top of the third and one more in the fourth. Rossetti knotted the score at 5-5 in the bottom of the fifth. With two on and no out, he found the gap in left center field for a two run double.

On the first pitch of the bottom of the seventh inning, Passerelle hit a long home run over the left field fence to give Iona its second straight win in its last at bat.

Charron had three hits including his second collegiate home run. His classmate, SS Matthew Kriss also had three singles in the victory. Rossetti and Chiaravallotti had two hits apiece.

Wiley (4-4) earned his fourth victory of the season allowing eight hits while striking out seven batters in the seven-inning complete game effort.

Fairfield outlasted Iona in game two, getting out of a bases loaded jam with the tying run on first base in the 21-18 shoot out win. The Gaels put themselves in a position for a third straight walk-off in the bottom of the ninth but a hard hit line drive by sophomore James Beck was snagged by the Stag centerfielder to end the contest.

Sophomore 3B Chris Burke had a career-high five hits in the loss. Burke is the first player to record five or more hits in a game since Mike Perrone had six at Hofstra on May 5, 2004. He had his first collegiate multi-home run contest with solo shots in consecutive at bats in the second and third innings. He also scored four times in addition to his three RBI.

Burke's classmate, James Beck also had a career-high with four hits. He hit his fifth home run of the year in the second inning, following Burke's first blast. Sophomore RF Colin Lyall went 3-for-5 with a double, three runs scored, and four RBI. Rossetti collected another three hits to match Passerelle's team lead with 58.

Passerelle stands one game shy of matching school record for games played of 187.  The mark is currently held by Rob Villanova '04 and Kyran Connelly '98.  In his second to last at bat, Passerelle passed Villanova's all time at-bats record and has 668 in his career. He stands in fifth place with 187 career hits, six away from Connelly in fourth place and 13 from becoming just the fourth player to record 200 career hits at Iona. Rossetti and Passerelle are both two hits away from 60 on the season. Thirteen players have reached the plateau in school history.

Freshman Ryan Martin (0-4) took the loss in relief.

The Gaels are back in action next weekend for their final three-game MAAC road series at Manhattan on Friday and Saturday.