NEW ROCHELLE, NY – On a frigid Wednesday, the Iona Gaels and Albany Great Danes did battle at City park throughout the afternoon and into the early evening. After 12 innings of back-and-forth swings, the Purple & Gold bested the Maroon & Gold by a final score of 5-4. It is the third extra-inning game of the season for the Gaels. Iona entered the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 3-2. With one out, senior Niko Switalla, who had entered the game earlier as a pinch hitter, doubled down the left field line. Rookie Daniel Palermo followed it up with a single up the middle, scoring the veteran and knotting the game at three. The next two batters were retired in order, but the possibilities of extra at-bats were ensured.

The Great Danes took a 4-3 lead in the top of the tenth inning without recording a hit. Nick Condo opening the frame with a walk and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. Marc Wangenstein hit a groundball down the third base line that ricocheted off of freshman Jake Field's glove and Kondo scampered home.

In the bottom of the tenth inning, the Gaels confirmed more innings with the top of the order coming through. Junior Brian Picone singled through the left side to begin the rally, and junior Stephen Furman walked to make it first and second. Senior Fran Kinsey sacrificed the runners into scoring position, and sophomore Sam Punzi tied the game on a fielder's choice.

Albany took the game-ending lead in the top of the twelfth inning. Jason Bottari hit a soft single to the pitcher and advanced to second on an error. He was shifted around the bases and came around to score on a bang-bang play. Brad Malm hit a high chopper to field at third base. The rookie took in the ground ball and threw the ball home to Punzi, but Bottari was going on contact and he slid under the tag.

Nick Bird got the win for Albany, going the final three innings and retiring the Gaels in order in their final at-bat. Junior Henry Conroy took the loss for the Maroon & Gold. He was Iona's sixth pitcher of the day, going the final two innings and surrendering the one final lone run.

Junior Chris Dodrill started for the Maroon & Gold and went 6.2 innings. He allowed two earned runs on six hits while striking out nine of the 28 batters he faced. Dodrill threw 104 pitches. Freshman Drew Helmstetter tossed one third of an inning and surrendered one earned run. Senior Antonio Velardi surrendered one unearned run and junior James Sharkey tossed two scoreless before Conroy entered.

The Great Danes used seven pitchers, none of which went more than three innings.

Senior Joe DeMaio and Palermo each had three hits. DeMaio's hits were infield singles, two of which were bunts that he just legged it out with impressive wheels. Punzi and Forman each had two hits. Field reached base three times with one hit and two base on balls.

• The Gaels stranded 17 runners on base, including the bases loaded on three occasions. The Maroon & Gold stranded a runner on base in nine straight innings.
• The only innings Iona was retired in order were the first and twelfth inning.
• Iona's top three batters in the order went a combined 1-for-17. Picone had the only hit and run scored amongst the trio of himself, Furman and Kinsey.
• The bottom third of Iona's order went 8-for-15 with two runs batted in and one run scored. They struck out just two times as a group; the rest of the order was K'd 10 times.
• The first three batters in the Great Danes combined for seven hits in 15 at-bats. They had four runs batted in and four runs scored. The remainder of the order had three hits total and one run scored.

The Maroon & Gold begin a three-game home stand against Seton Hall on Friday, Mar. 29 at 3 p.m. The Gaels and Pirates play on Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon. All games can be filed via live stats. Be sure to follow Iona College athletics on all social media platforms:
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Iona Baseball: Twitter and YouTube (Email Updates)

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