SAN JOSE, CA – Iona's comeback late in the second game of the day came up short against the San Jose Spartans, falling 4-2. The Maroon & Gold lost to UMass Lowell 12-4 in six innings in the first contest of the day on Friday.

GAME ONE: UMASS LOWELL 12 – IONA 4

Things started shaky for the Gaels in the first game of the Spartan Invitational. Iona committed three errors over the first two innings, leading to six runs for the River Hawks. UMass Lowell was out to a sizable lead early on, coming off of a 9-1 loss earlier in the morning to the host, San Jose State.
 
The Maroon & Gold cut into the deficit, getting run-scoring hits from freshman Jessica Chilcott in the third and sophomore Natalia Meray in the fourth. Rookie Hannah Collins came around to score after an error on Meray's single, cutting the UMass Lowell lead in half.
 
The Riverhawks got two of the three runs back when Courtney Cashman sent a ball over the right-center field fence to make it 8-3. Junior Marnie Skinner was chased later that inning, giving way to sophomore Samantha Bender; she did not fare much better.
 
Sophomore Ciarra DiGuilio made it 8-4 with an opposite field double that drove Kayla Hujber home in the top of the fifth. Bender allowed four runs in the bottom of the sixth and UMass Lowell dropped Iona via the mercy rule in the opening game of the tournament.

GAME TWO: SAN JOSE STATE 4 – IONA 2

Freshman Kara Zazzaro got the nod for the Gaels in the second game of the day. She struck out three batters through the first two innings, but San Jose State got on the board in the third.
 
After a strikeout to open the inning, the Spartans eventually pushed the first run of the board after the Maroon & Gold committed a second error in the field. The defensive miscue coupled with a stolen base put a runner in scoring position for the home team. A single allowed San Jose State to take a 1-0 lead and an error in centerfield allowed them to place another runner in scoring position with less than two outs. Zazarro managed to work out of the inning, keeping the deficit at just one for Iona.
 
After putting runners on in all three innings to begin the game, the Gaels went down in order in the fourth.
 
A single and another error in the field by the Maroon & Gold put the first two batters on base for San Jose State in the bottom of the fourth. Zazzaro got two ground balls and a pop up to escape trouble and keep the Spartan offense at bay.
 
It was the fifth inning when the Gaels finally got on the scoreboard. Senior Marisa Gergel opened the inning with a single back through the box. Collins sacrificed her to second and another single put runners on the corners with one out. Meray singled home Gergel to tie it at 1-1 and put the go-ahead run just 60 feet away. A fly ball to left field wasn't deep enough to score Hujber, and a grounder to short from Temple forced out the lead runner and ended the inning.
 
As quickly as San Jose State relinquished the lead, they regained it when Madison Aurin launched a go-ahead three run homer with one out in the bottom of the fifth. Head coach Katie Jansson stuck with the rookie on the bump and despite allowing two more base runners, she limited the Spartans to just those three runs.
 
Down 4-1 with their backs against the wall, the Gaels got the first two runners on base to begin the top half of the seventh inning. With Rebecca Gabert, who pinch ran for Gergel, on second and Collins on first, Iona had a chance to come back. Hujber and Meray were both set down on strikes. Chilcott came through for the Maroon & Gold, sending a two-bagger into the left-center gap to make it a 4-2 game. Jasmine Temple, with the tying run on second, grounded one back to the mound and Iona lost its second game of the day.

UP NEXT

The Spartan Invitational continues tomorrow for Iona; they will once again face UMass Lowell at 1:00 p.m. (10:00 a.m. PST) and San Jose State at 8:00 p.m. (5:00 p.m. PST).

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