NEW ROCHELLE, NY – In front of an enthusiastic crowd on Kid's Day at Donald E. Walsh Field, the Iona College softball team split a pair of Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference games against the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Saturday afternoon. Sophomore Alana Evans through five shutout innings in a shortened 8-0 game one win, and senior shortstop Katie Newton contributed two hits and four RBI on the day.
GAME ONE: Iona 8, Quinnipiac 0 (5 Innings)
Evans, the reigning MAAC Pitcher of the Week, continued her dominance with five innings of one hit, five strikeout innings. She did dance around six walks to strand seven Bobcats baserunners. The win raised her season record to 12-4.
Newton had two hits, two runs scored, and four runs batted in over three at-bats. She hit her second homerun of the game in the fourth inning, scoring freshman designated player Jasmine Temple and junior catcher Tori Danner.
The game came to a close in the fifth inning when freshman right fielder Marisa Gergel singled to centerfielder and scored senior centerfield Kelsey Long.
Gergel, Newton, and sophomore second basemen Hailey Thompson each had a team-high two hits. Senior leftfielder Ashlyn Morris, senior first basemen Kristen Turner, sophomore third basemen Chiaparelli and Long each had one hit. Gergel reached base all four times she stepped into the box with two walks batting in the two-hole.
The Bobcats lone hit came in the third inning with junior Miranda Magana earning a base-knock.
GAME TWO: Quinnipiac 6, Iona 1
Quinnipiac got on the board in the top of the third inning courtesy of RBI singles from sophomore Erin Larsen and junior Keala Cordeiro. Rookie pitcher Marnie Skinner threw three wild pitches in the inning to help the Wildcat circulate home.
Skinner settled down and finished with a final line of 5.2 innings, seven hits allowed, five strikeouts, and just one walk. She allowed five total runs, but the only two earned came in the third inning. In the sixth inning, Skinner retired the first two batters she saw before an error extended the frame for Quinnipiac; it'd go on to see four runs cross the plate and the advantage escalate to 6-0.
Sophomore Jessica Harkness came on in relief for Skinner during the sixth and ended going 1.1 innings allowed one earned run of her own on one hit and two walks.
Freshman Abbey Long was stellar in the circle for the Bobcats. She allowed four scattered hits and navigated around two errors herself. She struck out two batters, and induced 14 groundouts to the left side.
The Maroon & Gold scored their one run in the bottom of the sixth on a throwing error.
Iona returns to MAAC action tomorrow, Sunday, Apr. 23 at home against the Fairfield Stags. The doubleheader is set to begin at 12:00 PM at Donald E. Walsh Field.
