RICHMOND, VA - The Iona College baseball team nearly erased a four-run deficit before falling 5-4 to VCU this afternoon in the finale of a three-game series in Virginia.

After trailing by 4-0 earlier in the contest, the Maroon & Gold (4-12) went into the ninth trailing 5-3. Derek Becker led the inning off with a single and advanced to second on the next at-bat on a wild pitch. During that next at-bat, Stephen Hansen lifted a fly ball to center field deep enough to move Becker to third base. Niko Switalla took advantage of the runner on third with a single to left field to pick up th RBI and bring the score to 5-4. However, Mac McCarty was able to produce a double play on a ground ball from Brian Picone to close out the win and earn his ninth save of the season and second of the weekend.

Sean Scales and Lou Matarazzo led the Gaels with two hits a piece on the day while Tyler Bruno and Seth Hoagland each notched a hit and a walk. The duo joined Matarazzo and Switalla with each picking up an RBI. The combination of Kyle Ackley, Mario Ferraioli and Patrick Ryan put together the final 2.2 innings of work for Iona with no hits and no runs allowed to keep the game within striking distance.

Trailing 4-0 entering the sixth inning, Iona tallied three hits towards two runs in the top half of the frame. Matarazzo notched the first RBI by scoring Bruno on a single before Hoagland scored Scales on another single. After the Rams (13-8) pushed the margin to 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Bruno helped bring the Gaels back within two runs in the seventh with a RBI double to score Picone. A scoreless eighth set up the comeback opportunity for Iona in the ninth until McCarty closed out the save.

Iona is next in action on Tuesday with a 3 pm contest at LIU Brooklyn.