POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Iona College softball team lost to Niagara on Friday afternoon, eliminating them from Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference postseason play.

GAME SUMMARY

Junior Marnie Skinner got the start in Iona's elimination game against No. 5 Niagara on Friday. The All-MAAC Preseason Selection in the circle lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits.
 
The game began with a leadoff single for Kelsey Harrigan on the second pitch she saw. Skinner would get two ground balls in a row, with the latter of the two being an inning-ending double play started by middle infielders Hailey Thompson and Natalia Meray.
 
Sierra Bertrand started on the mound again for the Purple Eagles, and like her counterpart, allowed a leadoff base runner. Senior Marisa Gergel worked a walk and moved up 60 feet on a sacrifice bunt. Jasmine Temple and Kimmie Chiapparelli would go down swinging to end the frame and leave the runner in scoring position.
 
The second inning opened up with a bang; Jerri Ann Orfano homered to the opposite field on a 1-2 pitch from Skinner to make it 1-0. Kendall Watkins would draw a 12-pitch walk, fouling off six straight two-strike offerings from Skinner. Watkins would come around to score on a double off the bat of Rachel Funk; Jenna Patterson's two-bagger would push another run across to make it 3-0 and chase Skinner from the ballgame. Zazzaro entered in relief and allowed her inherited runner to score before closing out the frame.
 
Down by four after one and a half innings, Iona's offense sputtered, especially with runners on base. Chilcott led off the bottom of the second with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. Ciarra DiGuilio struck out for the first out and Thompson's grounder back to the mound was the second. Freshman Hannah Collins drew a base on balls to put runners on the corners for Kayla Hujber, but Bertrand struck her out looking to leave two on base.
 
The third inning opened up with another leadoff homerun; Maria Gabriele homered on an 0-2 pitch from Zazzaro and made it 5-0. An error, walk and a single would load the bases with one out in the third, but Iona's All-Rookie selection got two big strikeouts to get the Gaels through the third.
 
Gergel and Meray reached base to start the bottom half of the frame. Bertrand left them in place, getting Temple to strike out, Chiapparelli to fly out and Chilcott to watch strike three sail by. 
 
Orfano struck again in the fourth inning, blasting a two-run shot to centerfield and extending Niagara's lead to seven runs. Iona would finally get on the board in the bottom half when Bertrand flipped a ball to first that went offline and DiGuilio scored from second. The throwing error by Bertrand would bring the manager out to the mound to bring Karsen Cotton into the game. She would allow a two-out single to Gergel but would set Meray down on strikes to strand a pair of runners.
 
Iona would push across another run in the next inning to trim its deficit to five. Temple and Chiapparelli singled to open up the frame but Cotton would retire the next two batters. With runners on second and third, Thompson grounded a ball to short and the ball was muffed at first base, allowing Temple to score. Collins drew a walk to load the bases for pinch hitter Brianna Buck, but a nice play at third and a throw across the diamond would leave the bases full in the fifth.
 
Cotton notched her first 1-2-3 inning in the sixth, protecting her five run lead nicely. The Gaels would again go down in order in the seventh, losing to the Purple Eagles 7-2.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Iona collected seven hits on the day, scoring two runs (one unearned).
• No player had more than one base hit and the Gaels did not record an extra-base hit. Each of the first seven batters in the order had one hit.
• The Maroon & Gold were 4-19 with runners on base and just 1-14 with runners in scoring position on the afternoon.
• The leadoff hitter reached base in each of the first five innings for Iona; The Gaels were set down in order in both of the final two frames.
• Four of Niagara's seven runs came with two outs in an inning.
• The Purple Eagles had five extra-base hits, two of which were home runs off the bat of Orfano.

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