LEWISTON, NY – The Iona College softball team swept the Niagara Purple Eagles on Sunday, coming from behind in both games to steal a pair of wins. A two-run sixth inning propelled the Gaels to a win in game one and a seventh-inning rally in game two forced extra innings, where the Maroon & Gold took a lead and closed the door on the Purple Eagles.
GAME ONE: (IONA 3, NIAGARA 2)
Through the first three innings of action in game one, the two sides managed just one hit apiece.
Kara Zazzaro and Karsen Cotton each worked out of a jam, stranding two runners on and keeping the opposition off the board.
Zazzaro ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth, however. With a runner on base and two outs, the junior starter allowed a two-run homerun off the bat of Shayna Myshrall. Zazzaro struck out the next batter to escape with just the two runs on the board.
Given a lead to work with, Cotton faltered slightly. The first batter she faced in the next half inning,
Jessica Chilcott, homered to cut Iona's deficit in half.
Natalia Meray followed, doubling and advancing to third on a fly out. With the tying run 60 feet away, Cotton got
Ciarra DiGuilio to ground out and
Jasmine Temple to pop out, dancing out of danger in the top of the fifth.
Zazzaro held off the Purple Eagles in the bottom half, prepping her team for the first of two comeback wins on Sunday.
Brianna Buck started things with a single, eventually coming around to score the tying run on an
Emma Capuano single through the middle. After a
Kayla Haywood single and an error on a ball that Chilcott put in play, Iona had a 3-2 lead. The Gaels had a chance to add even further to the lead, but stranded two runners in scoring position.
Niagara put the tying and go-ahead runners on base in the bottom of the sixth, but Zazzaro worked her magic once more to escape. She got Myrshall, who burned her earlier, to line out and then struck out the pinch hitter looking, stranding two Purple Eagles on the basepaths and maintaining Iona's one-run lead.
Niagara went down in order in the bottom of the seventh and Iona grabbed a win in game one in Western New York.
GAME TWO: (IONA 9, NIAGARA 7)
Alana Evans started game two for the Gaels, but made it just two-thirds of an inning before being replaced by freshman
Alyssa DeJianne. Evans allowed the first two batters to reach via singles, the second of which drove home the game's first run. Evans retired the three hitter, Riley Crum, and got the second out on a pop fly on the infield. Rachel Funk provided the deciding blow, homering to give the Purple Eagles a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first. DeJianne worked around a walk and a single to limit the damage to three runs.
The Gaels were retired in order in the top of the second and Niagara tacked on insurance in its half of the inning. DeJianne allowed a two-run homerun to Crum and a two-run double by Myrshall plated two more, placing the Gaels in a 7-0 hole after two innings.
Hannah Collins began the third by drawing a base on balls, then scored Iona's first run on a Chilcott double. Meray singled to put runners on the corners and DiGuilio brought them home with a two-bagger of her own. The Maroon & Gold put up a three spot in the third, but went quietly in their next two innings.
Iona chipped away a little more in the sixth inning, thanks to an unearned run. DiGuilio came around to score on an error by the pitcher, making it a 7-4 ballgame. Zazzaro entered in the bottom of the sixth inning, recording two quick outs. She struck Avianna Peterson out looking to strand a pair of Purple Eagle baserunners and set her squad up for some more late-inning magic.
The Gaels, down to their final three outs, faced a three-run deficit. Meray drew a one-out walk to start the rally. An infield single by
Kaelene Walter brought the tying run to the dish. Niagara's Karsen Cotton did herself no favors from that point on. She walked DiGuilio to load the bases, then hit Temple with a pitch to bring home the inning's first run. The Gaels tied the game at seven after an error by the shortstop plated two more runs.
Kayla Haywood struck out swinging with the bases loaded to end the rally, but not before Iona gave itself one more shot to complete the sweep.
A one-out triple put the potential game-winning run on third base in the bottom of the seventh. Zazzaro registered a huge second out by fanning Crum. She then ended the threat entirely with a fly out to deep left field that
Maggie Foley camped under and secured.
The top of the eighth inning began with two fly outs. Walter singled to the opposite field and then advanced to second after yet another Niagara error in the infield. Temple made it hurt, doubling to plate a pair and give Iona its first lead of the game, 9-7.
Iona scored nine unanswered runs and Zazzaro secured her second win of the afternoon by setting the Purple Eagles down in order in the bottom of the eighth.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Zazzaro went the distance in game one, striking out 11 and allowing just two runs on four hits. In game two, she worked three innings of relief and was credited with her third run of the season, scattering two hits and holding Niagara scoreless.
- Chilcott was 2-6 on the day, driving in a pair of runs. She hit her second round tripper of the season in game one. The Preseason All-MAAC honoree registered an extra-base hit in all four games this weekend.
- Temple made her first appearance of the season on Sunday, going 2-8 at the dish with three runs batted in, including the game-winning two-RBI double in game two.
- DeJianne settled in after some early trouble, working 4.1 innings and allowing four runs (two earned). She also punched out two Niagara hitters.
- The Gaels needed extra frames in two of their three wins this weekend. In last year's shortened season, Iona did not play an extra-inning game. The Maroon & Gold had three extra-inning affairs in 2019, losing all three. The last extra-inning win for Iona before this season came back on April 22, 2018 at home against Marist.
- Iona has now won 12 of its last 16 contests against Niagara. Five of the 12 wins have come in Lewiston.
UP NEXT
Iona heads home for the week before saddling up and hitting the road for a pair of doubleheaders at Siena on March 27 and 28. The Gaels and the Saints begin play at 1 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. on Sunday.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow Iona College athletics on all social media platforms:
ICGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (E-Mail Updates)
Iona Softball: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (E-Mail Updates)
