NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Maroon & Gold bats were ferocious Wednesday afternoon, carrying Iona to two much need Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference wins against the visiting Saint Peter's Peacocks. The Gaels defeated SPU 16-1, and 10-2; both games ended in five innings.
Game 1: Iona 16, Saint Peter's 1
Using 18 hits and three walks to their advantage, Iona put together its most impressive offensive outing of the 2016 campaign. The Gaels scored sixteen runs, three apiece by seniors Sarah Schutz, Christine Costello, and junior Kristen Turner. All-in-all, nine different Gaels crossed the plate, and eight had a hand in the impressive season-high hit total.
Sophomore catcher Tori Danner had a team-high four hits, driving in five runs while scoring a pair of her own; she hit her third homerun of the season in third inning which game Iona an 11-1 lead at the time.
Danner was in charge behind the plate while senior Carly Argyle spun a gem of the game in the circle. She went four innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out two. Argyle proved most helpful to herself in the first inning when she bashed her first homerun of the season, a grand slam that gave the Maroon & Gold a cozy seven run cushion.
Argyle earned her second win of the season. Freshman Alana Evans came in relief to pitch one inning of shutout softball.
Junior Katie Newton had one hit in the lead-off spot, and junior Ashlyn Morris had three hits in the two-hole, bringing in one run. Costello drove in four runs on two hits, and junior centerfielder Kelsey Long knocked home a couple of base-knocks.
The Gaels 16 runs scored and decisive 15-mark margin of victory is their largest thus far this season.
Game 2: Iona 10, Saint Peter's 2
Costello started in the circle for Iona, and after allowing one run to cross in the first, she quickly shut the door on the Saint Peter's offense.
While the veteran controlled the circle, the Maroon & Gold continued to dominate the batters box. Iona pushed across 10 runs on 12 hits and three earned base on balls. Schutz had three hits, including the game-clinching two-RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Turner had two hits, including her ninth homerun of the season. She now has hit 32 homeruns in her Iona College career, one shy of tying Eileen McCann atop the Iona College softball program record book. Her career slugging percentage of .653 currently sits atop the pedestal in Gaels history.
Long had two hits and three RBI in game two, along with senior catcher Brianna King.
Iona hosts a pair of MAAC competitors this weekend, first the Marist Red Foxes on Saturday, and then the Siena Saints on Sunday. This year's six seniors will be honored before Sunday's contest being that it'll be their final home game at Donald E. Walsh Field.
