CONWAY, SC – The Iona College softball split a pair of games on Saturday at the 2020 Chanticleer Showdown. After losing 2-0 to Coastal Carolina earlier in the afternoon, the Gaels topped UMBC 12-10, behind a 10-hit, 12-run offensive outburst.
GAME ONE – COASTAL 2, IONA 0
Allie Taylor and Jess Chilcott were retired to start the bottom of the first inning before
Jasmine Temple drew a two-out walk. Temple moved up 60 feet on a wild pitch, but
Ciarra DiGuilio grounded out to third base to end the inning.
Alana Evans got the starting nod for the Gaels, working around a one-out single to start the afternoon off with a scoreless first inning.
Freshman
Kaelene Walter, making her first collegiate start, led off the top of the second with a groundout to shortstop.
Brianna Buck was hit by a pitch and advanced to second after Evans drew a walk in her first plate appearance of the season. Buck and Evans were stranded on base after
Taylor Brown and
Hannah Collins were set down.
Coastal Carolina left two runners on base in the bottom of the second inning; both reached via a base on balls. Evans got Mackenzie Beyer to fly out to centerfield with two runners on to end the second.
Taylor was Iona's lone base runner in the third after she was plunked to begin the frame. Chilcott fouled out and Temple and DiGuilio were victims of groundball outs. Evans recorded her first 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the third.
Walter notched the first hit of her career on an infield single to the left side of the diamond to open the fourth inning. Buck, attempting to sacrifice Walter to second, reached on a throwing error. Evans stepped to the plate in a sacrifice situation as well, and she reached on an error as well to load the bases for the Maroon & Gold.
The Chanticleers' Kaitlin Beasley-Polko worked out of a bases-juiced, no-out jam by getting a ground ball and two strikeouts. The Gaels left the sacks full after a hit and two errors.
Courtney Dean began the bottom half of the frame with a double to centerfield. Evans got a pop-up and a strikeout to ease the trouble, before defusing it entirely by getting Gabby Baylog to lineout to shortstop.
Chilcott drew a walk to start the top of the fifth, but was doubled off of first after Beasley-Polko snagged a Temple line drive back through the box. DiGuilio went down swinging on a 2-2 pitch to end the inning.
Evans issued a leadoff walk and the runner stole second to begin the bottom of the fifth. Evans won an eight-pitch bout with Beyer, striking her out swinging for the first out. Sydney Guess pinch hit for the Chanticleers and sent an 0-2 offering from Evans over the fence to give Coastal a 2-0 lead. Evans would get the second out before being relieved by Zazzaro, who closed the inning for the Gaels.
GAME TWO – IONA 12, UMBC 10
The Retrievers struck in the top half of the first inning, scoring three runs on three hits and an error. Senior
Marnie Skinner was welcomed into action with three runs coming across the board, before recording the first out of the evening. Once the dust settled, Skinner retired three batters in a row to put an end to the frame.
After being set down in order in the bottom of the first and allowing another run to score in the top of the second, Iona's offense kicked it into gear. The Gaels put a five spot on the board, highlighted by the first grand slam of Chilcott's career. Skinner helped her own cause with an RBI single earlier in the frame, and eventually came around to score on Chilcott's round tripper.
Iona added another in the third after a Temple leadoff double and a DiGuilio single. The Maroon & Gold would go ahead 10-4 after a four-run third inning. DiGuilio drew a bases-loaded walk to start the scoring before Walter's double down the line brought home two more. Meray's infield single scored the fourth run of the frame for the Gaels.
Skinner surrendered one run in the top of the fourth and Zazzaro allowed four more in the sixth to let UMBC to pull within one run of the lead, 10-9. Walter came up big in the bottom half however, padding Iona's lead with the first dinger of her collegiate career, a two-run homer to give the Gaels a 12-9 lead.
Zazzaro closed things out for Iona, allowing one more run in the seventh, but stranding the potential tying run on base to get the Gaels their first win of the 2020 campaign.
UP NEXT
Iona wraps up play at the 2020 Chanticleer Showdown tomorrow morning when they face Seton Hall at 11:00 a.m. at St. John Stadium.
SOCIAL MEDIA
ICGaels: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (E-Mail Updates)
Iona Softball: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (E-Mail Updates)
