NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College softball team swept Niagara in its home-opening conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Gaels' combination of freshman Kara Zazzaro and junior Marnie Skinner held the Purple Eagles to three runs across two games, helping Iona move to 6-2 in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference play this season.

GAME ONE: IONA 4 – NIAGARA 1

Iona got on the board in its first inning of the afternoon, stringing together three singles, two of them with two outs in the inning. Natalia Meray singled home senior Marisa Gergel to give the Gaels the 1-0 lead.
 
Zazzaro helped herself out in the second inning, leading off the frame with a double down the leftfield line. The rookie came around to score when Gergel laced an opposite-field single, her second of the game in as many innings, giving the Maroon & Gold a two-run cushion.
 
The Purple Eagles would cut into the deficit in the fifth when Hannah Haberman doubled off the centerfield fence, just out of the reach of junior Rebecca Gabert. Niagara trailed 2-1 after five full innings of play at Donald E. Walsh Field.
 
Iona would provide Zazzaro with some insurance in the bottom of the sixth. Junior Ciarra DiGuilio walked to open the frame and came around to score on Hailey Thompson's one-out double to right center. Freshman Jessica Chilcott had an opportunity to break it open with two runners in scoring position, but flew out to end the sixth inning. 
 
Things looked a little bleak after two errors in the top of the seventh, putting the tying run on second with one out. Zazzaro, after committing a throwing error, struck out Haberman looking for the second out. Rachel Funk was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Niagara's cleanup hitter, Jerri Ann Orfano. Zazzaro got Orfano to roll over, and Meray fielded and fired the ball to Thompson at second for the final out, closing out game one.

GAME TWO: IONA 4 – NIAGARA 2

Skinner got the ball for game two, facing off with Niagara's Jennifer Szilagyi. The Purple Eagles scored first; Orfano doubled home a run in the top half of the first inning, but Skinner ended the threat of multiple runs scoring with a strikeout looking to end the frame.
 
Senior Kimmie Chiapparelli opened the bottom of the second with a double down the rightfield line, but was cut down trying to stretch it into a triple. Meray was hit by a pitch to put a runner on, but Szilagyi retired DiGuilio and freshman Brianna Buck to hold off Iona in the second.
 
Orfano struck again in the fourth inning, lacing a homerun over the leftfield fence to lead off the frame. Kendall Watkins followed that up with a single, but was thrown out trying to swipe second base. Funk would also single, but was eventually stranded on third when Skinner got Kelsey Harrigan to ground out.
The Gaels finally got to Szilagyi in the fifth; four straight batters reached base with one out and it was Gergel's single through the right side that plated pinch runner Kayla Hujber for Iona's first run of the game. Niagara traded an out for the tying run when Chilcott grounded a ball to second, placing runners on the corner with two outs. Junior Jasmine Temple hit a two-bagger into the gap, picking up a pair of RBI and giving the Maroon & Gold a 4-2 advantage.
 
Skinner retired the Purple Eagles in order in the sixth and Zazzaro came on for the save in the top of the seventh. A single and a walk put the tying runs on first and third with one out. Zazzaro locked down her second save of the season when she got pinch hitter Jenna Patterson to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Zazzaro improved to 6-8 on the season and Skinner earned her fifth victory of 2019. Zazzaro's save in game two was her second of the year.
• The Gaels never trailed in game one; the Purple Eagles led 2-0 in the fifth inning of game two before Iona's four-run inning.
• Gergel and Zazzaro had multiple hits in game one; the Gaels' rookie pitcher notched her first extra base hit in her first at-bat of the afternoon.
• Iona pitching punched out 10 Purple Eagle batters in the doubleheader, offering four free passes.
• Iona is now 8-2 in its last 10 games against Niagara.

UP NEXT

The Gaels are back at it again on Sunday, hosting Canisius for a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 p.m. at Donald E. Walsh Field.

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