NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Iona used its combination of timely hitting and stingy pitching to earn a pair of momentum building Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference wins on Sunday afternoon. With the sweep, the Maroon & Gold are now tied for first place with their 10-4 MAAC record.
GAME ONE: Iona 2, Fairfield 1
Sophomore Hailey Thompson approached the batter's box in the bottom of the seventh with her team knotted against Fairfield, 1-1. Sophomore Alana Evans had completed seven innings of three hit, one run dominance. With junior Destinee Pallotto on the bump, who entered the seventh having allowed one unearned run on four hits, Thompson took it upon herself to ensure yet another dramatic win at Donald E. Walsh field.
On the third pitch she saw, Thompson crushed her third homerun of the season over the leftfield wall and gave the Maroon & Gold a 2-1 walk-off victory.
Senior shortstop Katie Newton had the other RBI hit for Iona. Her two-out single to leftfield, scoring senior leftfield Ashlynn Morris, was able to come of fruition after Morris led the frame off reaching base courtesy of an error.
Fairfield scored its lone run in the fourth inning. Senior Tori Reed reached base on a walk and stole second base. After being advanced to third on a groundout, senior Gianna Kinhofer drove her home via a sacrifice fly to right field.
Evans went the distance while striking out nine and allowing seven total baserunners. She stranded six Stags on base in route to raising her season record to 13-4. Over her last five games, Evans has allowed one run on seven hits while dealing 23.2 innings.
GAME 2: Iona 3, Fairfield 1
The scoring began in the bottom of the first with senior first basemen Kristen Turner belting her team-leading eighth homerun of the season.
Another run was tacked on in the second courtesy of Thompson's opposite field power. She drove a double into the right center field gap that allowed Newton to score the eventual game-winning run. Iona had a chance to add on with Long reaching the base on an error, but Morris grounded out sharply to third, squandering two.
In the bottom of the fifth, Morris began a small rally with a one-out single down the left field line. Freshman right fielder Marisa Gergel followed it up with a base knock through the 5-6 hole. Turner came within a few feet of hitting her second round-tripper of the day with a foul blast. The long strike was only a subtle tease as she'd fly out deep to centerfield.
Following Turner's battle, junior catcher Tori Danner gave Iona its insurance run with a RBI single through the left side.
Fairfield scored one run in the top of the sixth inning when sophomore Courtney Hankins singled home junior Angelina McGuire.
In the seventh, freshman pinch hitter Lacey Olaff walked to open the frame. Fairfield starting pitcher junior Kristen Ball popped out and sophomore Alisa Marshall struck out looking to bring the Maroon & Gold within one out.
Senior Molly Roche entered to pinch hit and extended the game with a single to the right side. With runners on first and second and two outs, junior Jessica Harkness came on in relief of freshman Marnie Skinner. Harkness ended the game by getting McGuire to lineout to Turner at first base.
Skinner went the first 6.2 innings allowing one earned on four hits and three walks. She struck out three batters and improved to 6-8 for the year. Harkness earned her second save of the season; she is now tied with Becky Riccitelli '08 for the all-time program lead with four in her career.
Iona continues MAAC play on Wednesday, Apr. 26 at Rider.
