ALBANY, NY – The Iona College baseball program took care of business on Wednesday afternoon with a resounding 13-1 win against the Albany Great Danes at their home park. Three different Gaels had two hits at Varsity Field and junior
Henry Conroy was stout on the mound earning the victory throwing five strong innings.
GAME SUMMARY
Both Iona and Albany had chances to score in the first inning. The Gaels stranded a pair of runners on base the Great Danes left the bases loaded. Come the second inning, the Maroon & Gold began its scoring that'd stretch throughout the remainder of the contest.
Senior
Joe DeMaio earned an RBI scoring sophomore
Michael Gorman on a groundout. The Gaels took a 2-0 lead when junior
Brian Picone scampered home on a wild pitch tossed by Albany starter Daniel St. Clair.
Guarding a two run lead, Conroy stranded four Great Dane base runners through third and fifth inning. He picked up his first winning decision of the season allowing no runs on three hits and five walks. Albany struck out five times against him. Conroy through 89 pitches, 42 for strikes.
Iona expanded its lead to 6-0 with a four-run top of the sixth inning. Hunter Torres took the hill for the Great Danes and walked rookie
Daniel Palermo and Gorman to start. The two runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch and soon it was bases loaded for the Maroon & Gold with one out and senior
Niko Switalla stepping up. Iona's first basemen singled to left field, scoring two runs and pushing DeMaio 90 feet away from home. Connor Takacs replaced Torres on the runner to little aid. Senior
Fran Kinsey walked and then sophomore
Sam Punzi hit a deep fly ball to right field, pushing DeMaio home and Switalla to third. The Gaels' final run of the inning came on a double steal.
The Maroon & Gold increased its offensive potency in the top of the eighth inning. Nine players appeared at the plate with run-producing at-bats coming from Kinsey, freshman
Jake Field and Palermo. The Gaels also got a run in a wild pitch. They scored five runs on three hits and three free passes. Iona's last two runs came in the top of the ninth inning; Punzi had his second sacrifice fly and Field his second RBI single.
Albany's lone run came in the bottom of the eighth inning. Dolan Ocasal grounded out to Picone at second base and Peter Torres scampered home to hinder the shutout.
Freshman
Michael Untracht pitched the last for innings for the Gaels. He surrendered three hits, five walks and one earned run.
The Great Danes used six pitchers and only one didn't allow a hit. The strongest Albany pitcher was Dan Yankowski. He threw three shutout innings and struck out four Gaels.
NOTABLE NUGGET
- The 13 runs scored is a season-best. The Gaels tied a season-high with three sacrifice flies and three hit by pitches. Iona set a new season-best with four steals. Kinsey had two swipes. Switalla and Picone each had one.
- Switalla, Kinsey, Field, Gorman and Picone all had two hits. DeMaio had one base-knock. Kinsey reached base three times on walks. Switalla walks four balls pass by twice and was hit by a pitch once.
- The top four batters in the Iona order had two runs batted in; Switalla, Kinsey, Punzi and Field.
- Just one of Iona's 11 hits was for extra-bases. Gorman had a double.
- Untracht tied a career-best with four innings pitch. Over his last two outings, the freshman has thrown eight innings allowing one earned run on four hits and nine walks.
UP NEXT
The Maroon & Gold's next MAAC series against Niagara starts on Friday, Apr. 19 at newly renovated Bobo Field in Lewiston, NY. Follow the action via
live stats.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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