CHARLOTTE, NC – UNC Charlotte responded to a first inning run by the Iona College baseball team with three runs in each the second and third on the way to a 10-3 victory in the three-game weekend series.

Niko Switalla lifted the Gaels (0-3) to a 1-0 advantage in the first inning with a two-out RBI single to score Fran Kinsey. However, Charlotte (3-0) totaled six runs in the second and third frames that were capped off by Tommy Bullock's two RBI hit with two outs in the third following four RBI hits to score the previous runs, including two from Hunter Jones.

In the top of the sixth, Seth Hoagland started a short rally with a RBI double to right center that scored Switalla. Hoagland scored not long after as Stephen Furman connected for a double to left center to bring the Gaels within 6-3.

With the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Reece Hampton extended the margin for the 49ers with a bases clearing double before scoring on a Jackson Mims single to give the hosts a 10-3 advantage.

Kinsey, Switalla, Hoagland and Furman all tallied two hits a piece on the day for Iona. Mario Ferraioli came in for relief to log 3.1 innings of work to keep the Gaels within striking distance starting in third inning.

The Maroon & Gold return to the road next weekend to travel for a three-game weekend in Norfolk, VA starting on Friday, February 23 with a 5 pm contest against Stony Brook.