WILMINGTON, NC – The Iona College baseball team dropped a pair on contests on Saturday afternoon. The Gaels fell to the University of North Carolina Wilmington 11-4 in the opener. Marshall bested the Maroon & Gold in six innings, 8-3, in the finale. The contest against the Herd was called early in the sixth inning due to heavy fog.
GAME ONE RECAP: UNCW 11, Iona 4
Iona and UNCW both scored a pair of runs in the first inning. The Gaels began tallying with senior
Joe DeMaio scoring on a wild pitch and senior
Fran Kinsey crossing home on a sacrifice fly off the bat of senior
Niko Switalla. The Seahawks scored in the same fashion in the bottom of the first. Cole Weiss scored on a wild pitch and Doug Angeli crossed home on a Keb Brown sacrifice hit.
Brooks Baldwin gave the Seahawks a lead they wouldn't relinquish with a solo blast to centerfield. After the Gaels scored one and stranded a pair of runners in the top of the fifth, UNCW broke it open in the bottom half with six runs. Brooks Baldwin cleared loaded bases with a double to left field. He'd score on a two-run two-bagger to right center from Zachary Bridges. Junior
Henry Conroy came in to replace starter sophomore
Chris Dodrill. The Seahawks scored one run more following the change on the hill on a pass ball.
UNCW added one run in the sixth and seventh innings. Baldwin drove home Weiss and Greg Jones hit the Seahawks' second homerun for their final tally. Iona added a single run in the top of the ninth with sophomore
Derek Becker scoring on a passed ball.
Five different Gaels each had a single hit; DeMaio, Kinsey, Switalla, Becker and rookie
Will Jennings. DeMaio hit Iona's third triple of the season and Becker carried one for his second double.
Baldwin led UNCW with three hits in three at-bats. He had five runs batted in and two walks. The Gaels walked nine Seahawks batters and Chris Thorburn drew three of them.
Dodrill suffers the loss going 4.1 innings allowing nine runs, seven earned, on seven hits and three walks. Conroy pitched 2.2 innings in relief and allowed two earned runs on four hits. Sophomore
Demitri Murray threw a single scoreless inning despite walking three.
UNCW used four pitchers in the win with Breydan Gorham getting the winning decision going three scoreless innings of relief in heir to starter Brody Lawson.
GAME TWO RECAP: IONA 8, MARSHALL 3 (5.5 Innings)
DeMaio's second career home run gave the Maroon & Gold a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Graduate
Jon Budesa scored on the blast after leading off the inning with a single to right field.
Marshall tied the game in the top of the fourth. A leadoff walk proved damaging for the Gaels as Geordon Blanton scored on a Shane Hanon single. The Thundering Herd knotted the game with Erik Rodriguez scoring on a wild pitch.
The Gaels retook the lead for a brief moment in the bottom of the fourth with rookie
Jake Field catapulting his first collegiate dinger.
The Maroon & Gold committed three errors in the top of the fifth. Due to the miscues, Marshall was able to score five runs and take a 7-3 lead. Four of the runs scored in the frame were unearned. Rookie
Hunter Sibley exited the having started the game. He went 4.1 innings and threw 97 pitches allowing three earned runs on four hits and one walk.
Marshall scored one run in the top of the sixth inning on a home run from Zach Inskeep before the game was called early due to fog.
>NOTEABLE NUGGETS
- Following Sunday's game, DeMaio leads the Gaels with a .429 batting average, .714 slugging percentage and .500 on base percentage.
- Saturday's finale against Marshall was Iona's first multi-homerun game since Apr. 8 last season against Niagara University. The Gaels had just two games with more than one homerun last season.
- Iona grounded into a season-high two double plays in the lost to UNCW. The Gaels pitching staff allowed a season-worst two homeruns against Seahawks.
- The Maroon & Gold committed a season-worst three errors in each game against Marshall this season.
UP NEXT
The Gaels wrap up the 2019 UNCW tournament against Indiana State at 10 a.m. Follow the Gaels in their final contest of the weekend via
live stats.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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