NIAGARA, NY – After falling behind 2-0, the Iona College baseball team earned a split with Niagara this afternoon by earning a 10-2 victory in the opening before falling 3-2 in the nightcap.
Game One
Following the Purple Eagles taking a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the first of the opener this afternoon, the Maroon & Gold tied the game in the top of the third with a two runs on three hits.
Sean Scales led off the inning with a single to left field followed by a double from
Tyler Bruno to place runners on second and third.
Sean Breen swung for a second consecutive double to plate Scales and Bruno for the tying runs.
In the fourth, Iona took the lead for good as
Stephen Hansen led off with a double. With two outs, Scales was able to reach on an error that brought Hansen home. The lead extended in the eighth as
Sam Punzi homered as the first batter. Picone added a RBI double to push the lead to 5-2.
Five more runs in the final offensive inning were posted in the ninth on five hits to help extend the margin and give Iona the opening win in the three-game series.
Joe DeRosa worked around the first two runs in the opening inning to complete seven innings of work with six strikeout to earn his second win of the season. Mario Ferrailoli wrapped up the last two frames with no runs surrendered behind a strikeout.
From the lineup, Bruno went 4-for-4 in addition to two runs. Punzi drove in three runs along with
Brian Picone.
Game Two
The Gaels started the second game of the doubleheader with two runs in the first inning. Scales drew a walk and later scored on a passed ball. In the following at-bat after the passed ball,
Lou Matarazzo posted a sacrifice fly to score Bruno.
The opening runs were the lone tallies of the game for Iona as Niagara evened the score in the fourth before an RBI single in the seventh proved to be the difference.
In the effort, Breen, Matarazzo and
Fran Kinsey all recorded two hits while Matarazzo was credited with the lone RBI of the game. Hansen and
Schuyler Bates each threw three innings in the seven-inning contest with Bates notching five strikeouts.
The third game of the contest is scheduled for a noon start on Sunday.