FAIRFIELD, CT - Following a schedule change to this weekend's series at Fairfield, the Iona College baseball team opened the three-game set with a 10-3 victory this afternoon in Connecticut.

The hosts Stags (19-24, 8-11 MAAC) gained the early lead in the bottom of the first behind a RBI triple from Kevin Radziewicz and kept the lead after a scoreless second inning. However, the Gaels (13-29, 7-11 MAAC) plated five runs in the top of the third to capture the momentum.

Sam Punzi opened the third with a single and was followed up by a walk to Derek Becker. Both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch. Two batters later, Tyler Bruno claimed first on a four-pitch walk. With two outs in the inning Sean Breen drove in Punzi and Becker with a single to give Iona the advantage. In the next at-bat, the margin increased to four runs as Lou Matarazzo homered to left center on a full count.

Tim Zeng cut into the deficit for Fairfield by scoring on a groundout in the fifth before Iona added five more runs between the seventh and eighth innings. Brian Picone drove in both runs in the seventh with a double down the left field line. In the eighth, Seth Hoagland tripled in another two runs with Punzi capping the scoring on a sacrifice fly. 

The Stags were able to add one run towards the final score in the eighth as Eric Cerno notched a pinch-hit RBI double. Dan McBryan was able to close out the inning and allowed James Gosweiler to produce a game ending double play to give the Maroon & Gold the win.

Stephen Hansen earned his third victory of the season by starting the first 7.1 innings that included five strikeouts. Offensively, Breen recorded a game-high three hits, two runs and two RBI.  

The series concludes tomorrow with a noon doubleheader.