JERSEY CITY, NJ – The Iona College softball team picked up a pair of wins at Saint Peter's on Sunday, highlighted by a complete-game, no-hitter by freshman Kara Zazzaro. Iona's offense combined to score 26 runs on the day and the Zazzaro/Skinner combo punched out 22 Peacocks in the sweep.

GAME ONE: IONA 10 – SAINT PETER'S 0

Freshman Kara Zazzaro's Sunday afternoon performance was nearly perfect. The rookie allowed no runs, no hits, walked two and struck out 13 Peacocks. The no-hitter was the first since Alana Evans accomplished the feat against Monmouth in 2017.
 
Zazzaro cruised through the first four innings. She flirted with perfection through 5.2 innings, but she walked Alyssa Adams in the sixth to end her perfect-game bid. The Gaels had a 6-0 lead at that point in the ballgame. Iona scored three runs in the second inning, getting run-scoring base knocks from Hannah Collins, Natalia Meray and Marisa Gergel. Three more came across to score when Jasmine Temple launched her second homer of the season, a three-run shot in the fifth inning.
 
In case Zazzaro wasn't comfortable enough with a six-run lead, the Iona offense provided four more runs in the top of the seventh. The big blow in the inning was Meray's bases-clearing, three-RBI double with two away, making it a 10-0 lead for the Maroon & Gold.
 
Zazzaro retired the first two batters of the final frame via the strikeout, the first swinging and the second one looking. Theamaris Ramirez worked a two-out walk, but Zazzaro punched out another Peacock, the 13^th victim of the day and she put the finishing touches on a historic performance on the hill.

GAME TWO: IONA 16 – SAINT PETER'S 2

Sydney Senerchia got the nod for the Peacocks in game two, facing Iona's Marnie Skinner. Both starters struck out the side in their first inning, though Gergel worked a walk in between punchouts.
 
Senior Kimmie Chiapparelli opened up the scoring with a solo shot to lead off the second inning. Senerchia would limit the damage to just the one run, striking out two more in the inning. Skinner walked one and hit another in the second frame, but got her fourth strikeout of the afternoon to strand runners on first and second. 
 
A walk and a single in the top of the third put runners on first and second with two outs for the Gaels, but Senerchia struck out Temple to hold off Iona. After being held hitless and scoreless through nine innings across two games, Adams homered to open the bottom of the third. Skinner would get her fifth and sixth strikeout to end the inning.
 
The Gaels bats woke up in the fourth, striking for six runs on five hits to take a 7-1 lead. Three different two-RBI singles by Rebecca Gabert, Jessica Chilcott and Temple plated all six of the runs for Iona. The Maroon & Gold batted around in the inning and Chiapparelli accounted for two of the three outs in the inning. Skinner was gifted the six-run cushion and shut down the Peacocks in their half of the inning. 
 
Iona's offense one-upped itself in the following inning, plating nine runs and collecting seven hits. Gabert drove in two more, as she did the previous frame, and Meray's RBI-double chased Senerchia. Ramsey, who started the opening game, entered in relief and walked the first batter she faced. Chilcott, Kalya Hujber and Hailey Thompson all produced run-scoring singles to eventually make it a 16-1 lead for the Gaels.
 
Skinner allowed a leadoff homerun to begin the bottom of the fifth, but she would strike out the next two batters and finish off the win for the Maroon & Gold.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Zazzaro's no-hitter is the ninth in program history. She becomes the second freshman to throw a no-hitter as a member of the Maroon & Gold and the sixth pitcher to throw a complete-game no-hitter.
• The rookie was perfect through 5.2 innings before walking Ferony. Zazzaro would eventually offer up one more free pass in the contest. 
• Zazzaro struck out a career-best 13 hitters in the no-no. Skinner and Zazzaro combined to strikeout 22 Peacocks in the pair of wins.
• The Gaels racked up nine extra base hits, 26 runs, 27 hits and made no errors defensively in the sweep.
• Temple and Chiapparelli hit homeruns; for Chiapparelli, it was the first of the season for the senior.
• Temple and Meray both plated five runs across the two games. Chilcott and Gabert drove in four apiece.
• Seven different Gaels registered multi-hit games. Gergel, DiGuilio and Meray did it in the first game; Chilcott, DiGuilio, Thompson and Gabert did it in the nightcap of the doubleheader. 
• At the end of play on Sunday, Iona sits in third place (4-2) in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference behind Marist and Monmouth. 

UP NEXT

The Gaels will play another doubleheader away from home, a non-conference matchup with Fairleigh Dickinson on Thursday. Iona will host Niagara and Canisius on April 13 and 14, respectively.

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