QUEENS, NY - Two scoring inning was enough for St. John's to defeat the Iona College baseball team 5-1 this afternoon in non-conference action at Jack Kaiser Stadium.

With the first three batters of the bottom of the third reaching, John Valente needed just a single through the infield to plate a pair of runs and put the Red Storm (19-10) ahead 2-0. Starting pitcher Stephen Hansen was able to limit the damage to just the two runs by producing a double play in the next at-bat followed by another ground out to end the inning.

The Maroon & Gold (8-20) broke through on the scoreboard in the top of the seventh with the score still at 2-0 as Brian Picone doubled to left field with two outs to score Sam Punzi and cutting the St. John's advantage in half. However, a three-run bottom of the seventh extended the margin for the hosts. Robert Boselli III singled to lead off the inning and managed to make his way to third base in front of two wild pitches. Boselli scored in a sacrifice fly credited to Anthony Brocato who actually reached due to a fielding error. Mike Antico doubled to score Brocato before touching home later on a Valente single.

The combination of Gavin Hollowell and Chris Henry closed the game out for the Red Storm as the team in now one win away from 20 on the season.

For the Gaels, Dan McBryan contributed two scoreless innings out of the bullpen that included two strikeouts. Mario Ferraioli pitched the final 1.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts. 

Looking ahead to the weekend, Iona welcomes Canisius for a three-game conference series schedule to start on Saturday a noon doubleheader at City Park. Stay tuned to ICGaels.com and follow @ICGaels and @IonaBaseball on Twitter for all schedule updates and adjustments.