POUGHKEEPSIE, NY - The Iona College baseball team dropped a doubleheader to Marist in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action at McCann Field. The Red Foxes used solid pitching efforts in both ends to defeat the Gaels 3-1 and 6-2.

Senior LHP Justin Wiley took the hard luck loss, allowing just five hits in six innings and just one earned run. It was his fourth straight start without a base-on-balls.

The Gaels scored their lone run in their last at bat and got the tying run to the plate before being retired.

Sophomore SS Matthew Kriss was 3-for-3 while rookie LF Joe Torres was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Junior 3B Chris Burke drove in Iona's run with two outs in the seventh.

In the night cap, Iona starter Eddie Macaluso and Marist starter Sean McKeown went toe-to-toe for the first four innings before the Red Foxes broke the scoreless game in the fifth. A two-out single by 1B Mike Orefice gave the home team a 1-0 lead. A three-run sixth inning sealed the game for Marist.

Burke went 2-for-4, scoring both runs and driving in himself with his team-leading 11th home run of the season. Kriss extended his hitting streak to a season-best eight games with a single in the opening frame.

Macaluso allowed 10 hits and four earned runs over seven innings, walking two and striking out one before being relieved in the eighth. Junior Anthony Castellitto pitched a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout in his appearance.

The Gaels complete the 2011 campaign next weekend when they host Manhattan for a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday.

Game 1                            R  H  E
Iona College........ 000 000 1 -  1  8  2
Marist.............. 020 100 X -  3  5  0
 
Game 2                              R  H  E
Iona College........ 000 000 101 -  2  5  3
Marist.............. 000 013 20X -  6 10  2