LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Iona College baseball program dropped the series finale against Siena, 8-7. Senior
Fran Kinsey had a team-best three hits in four at-bats. Sophomores
Sam Punzi and
Daniel Palermo each contributed two hits.
GAME SUMMARY
The Saints jumped out in front early against the Gaels. After two innings, they had a 3-0 lead behind the bat of
Brian Kelly. He went 2-2 in his first at-bats, collecting one run scored and an RBI on a double. Alex Milone and Matt Hamel each had an early run scored as well.
The Maroon & Gold's starter was junior
James Sharkey. He went the first inning and allowed two earned runs on three hits. He also had a wild pitch and a balk. He was relieved by rookie
Drew Helmstetter who tossed the next two innings and allowed one unearned run.
Iona got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning. Rookie
Jake Field single through the right side and advanced to second after rookie
Shaun Hillis was hit by a pitch. With two outs, sophomore
Michael Gorman singled through the right side, scoring Field.
The fifth inning was a fruitful one for the Gaels. Kinsey singled through the right side on an 0-2 count to begin what'd become a four-run rally. Kinsey advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a senior
Niko Switalla RBI hit. Punzi walked on four pitches to make it first and second, leading to a Siena pitching change.
Dylan D'Anna came on to replace Ryan Bellomo and got Field to strike out. Iona didn't back down, and a two-out rally ensued. Hillis reached base on a free pass for a second time, and Palermo came to the batter's box with bases loaded. He hit a one-bagger to third base, tying the game at three. The Maroon & Gold took a 5-3 lead courtesy of a Saint fielding error on a grounder off the bat of Gorman.
Most importantly, rookie
Paul Sullivan had a crucial shutdown inning in the bottom of the fifth. Siena loaded the bases, but Iona was able to leave all three runners stranded to cap off a decisive inning.
In the top of the sixth, Kinsey circumvented the bases to make it 6-3 in favor of the Maroon & Gold. He singled to left field, then advanced to second on a wild pitch, and third on a balk. He then scored on Punzi's base knock to right field.
Siena got one run in the bottom half of the sixth. Craigh Corliss walked with the bases loaded to push a run across, but the Saints mustered just one tally and left the bases loaded for a second straight inning. The bottom the seventh was a repeat inning for Siena, the only change being that it happened against Gael rookie hurler
Hunter Sibley. The Saints scored one run on a walk, but left runners on each base for the third straight inning.
Iona brought it closer
Antonio Velardi in the bottom of the eighth inning holding onto a 6-5 lead. He started the inning with a strike out, but then hit Nico Ramos with a pitch. Siena entered Scottie O'Bryan as a pinch runner. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then to third on a sacrifice fly to right center. The saint rookie speedster tied the game at six with a steal of home. With runners still on first and second, Siena took the momentum and capitalized to a definitive degree. Ryan McGee singled through the left side and scored Devan Kruninski with the leading run. The eventual winning run was Evan St. Claire's foot on home plate, which was only allowed to score via a Maroon & Gold fielding error.
The Saints closed the game in the top of the ninth, but not without some struggle. Iona plated one in its final at-bat to make the final score, 8-7.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- The two teams combined to leave 26 runners on base. Iona left two Gaels stranded and Siena abandoned 16 Saints on the base paths.
- Siena's offense was propelled by McGee in the leadoff spot. He had four hits, two stolen bases, one run scored and one run batted in.
- The Maroon & Gold used five pitchers in the game. Sullivan pitched a game-high three innings and struck out four. Every pitcher allowed at least one run.
- The Gaels had three wild pitches for the second straight game. They walked eight batters for the second time this week.
- Kinsey took over the team-best with 10 multi-hit games this season. He is tied with junior Brian Picone for a team-high with three three-hit games.
UP NEXT
Iona travels to St. John's on Tuesday, Apr. 30. The game is being broadcasted on
ESPN3. The Maroon & Gold resume MAAC play on Saturday, May 4 against Quinnipiac.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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