LOUDONVILLE, NY – The Iona College softball team swept the Siena Saints on Friday afternoon, moving to 5-1 on the season.
Kara Zazzaro won her fourth game of the season in game one and game two saw freshman
Jamie Sheeran blast three homeruns to lead the Gaels past the Saints.
GAME ONE: (IONA 4, SIENA 3)
Jessica Chilcott picked up where she left off after the Niagara series, leading off the game with a single. She eventually moved to second after a ground ball back to the mound and
Ciarra DiGuilio took her place on first base after drawing a two-out walk. Both runners were stranded to end the inning after Nicole Patille retired
Jasmine Temple.
Siena got to Zazzaro early on, putting the first two batters on base after a walk and a hit by pitch. Zazzaro set down the next batter on strikes and got some help from her defense when
Brianna Buck cut down a runner at the plate on a single to right field. Back-to-back free passes, Zazzaro's second and third of the inning, got the Saints on the scoreboard. She would get the next batter to ground out to leave the bases juiced and end the first.
The Gaels stranded two more runners in the second after Chilcott popped up to short. Iona would get on the board and take a lead in the third however. After
Natalia Meray fouled out to begin the frame, three base on balls put three ducks on the pond for Iona. Buck, who saved a run in the first inning, cashed in with the bat in the third, singling to the opposite field and tying the game at one.
Emma Capuano drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to give the Maroon & Gold a 2-1 lead, then
Morgan Ritchey legged out an infield single with two outs to push another run across for the Gaels. Chilcott flew out to end the inning and leave the bases juiced in the third.
Handed the lead for the first time on the afternoon, Zazzaro set down the side in order for the second straight inning in the bottom of the third. The junior from Southington, Connecticut ran into some more trouble in the fourth though. The Saints hit two solo homeruns, tying the game at three. Taylor Rhinehart, who relieved Patille in the circle the half inning prior, hit the game-tying homer.
The game headed into the sixth inning still knotted at 3-3, but Meray broke the tie with her first round tripper of the season, a solo shot to left field to lead off the frame. A two-out double by Temple gave Iona an opportunity to pad the lead, but Rhinehart got Buck to foul out to limit the damage.
Now facing its second deficit of the afternoon, Siena put a runner on third with less than two outs in the bottom of the sixth. Zazzaro retired the next batter for a big out number two. Another free pass put runners on the corners with two outs, but Zazzaro stranded the game's tying run when she got her counterpart on the bump, Rhinehart, to strike out swinging.
Zazzaro made quick work of the Saints in the bottom of the seventh, retiring the side in order to secure her fourth win of the season.
GAME TWO: (IONA 8, SIENA 6)
Alyssa DeJianne got the nod for the Gaels in game two and had to navigate through rough waters in her first inning of work. A one-out double, followed by a single placed runners on the corners for the Saints. DeJianne got a ground out to keep the runners at bay and record the second out of the frame, but an infield single pushed across the game's first run. DeJianne escaped the jam by getting Rhinehart to fly out to center.
As they have in most of their games early on this season, the Gaels trailed early on. But, like they had done earlier in the day, and last weekend at Niagara, Iona erased the deficit and grabbed a lead.
Sheeran evened the score in the top of the third, leading off the inning with a solo shot. Chilcott gave her team the lead when she launched a two-run homer over the fence in left field. An inning later, the Sheeran and Chilcott combo struck again. Sheeran cleared the wall in centerfield, pushing Iona in front 5-1. Chilcott made it 7-1 with her second two-run bomb, a shot to left-center that chased Patille. Rhinehart entered in relief for the second straight game and ended the Gaels' rally.
For Sheeran, it didn't seem to matter who was on the mound. The rookie led off the top of the sixth with her third bomb of the game. Sheeran homered in three straight at-bats, spanning four innings.
After a rough patch in the opening frame, DeJianne settled in. The freshman cruised through innings two through six. She did run into some more trouble in the bottom of the seventh, allowing two of the first three batters she faced to reach base. Credit is due to Siena, who faced a seven-run deficit and did not go away easy. The Saints chipped away at the Iona lead.
A single off made it 8-2, but DeJianne would get Rhinehart to fly out and was in need of just one more out to close out the game and complete the sweep. All Siena did was record three straight hits, two of which were extra-base hits, cutting Iona's lead down to two runs, 8-6. Head coach
Katie Jansson called on DiGuilio to get the final out. DiGuilio entered the circle with the game-tying run at the plate, but delivered for her team, getting Davis to pop out and notch the save in game two.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Sheeran is the first Gael since Kristen Turner '17 to hit three homeruns in a game, a feat that Turner accomplished back in April of 2015 against Saint Peter's.
- Chilcott was a big part of the offense in game two, homering twice and driving in four runs. The Preseason All-MAAC honoree has now hit four round trippers in six games.
- Meray's homer in game one broke a 3-3 tie and was the game-deciding run. It was the first of the season for the senior from San Diego and the second of her career.
- Zazzaro hurled a complete game in the first of two contests, scattering four hits and striking out eight. All three of her runs allowed were earned.
- DeJianne won her first career game in the nightcap, tossing 6.2 innings and allowing six runs. The rookie walked four batters and allowed 10 hits, punching out three hitters.
- DiGuilio made the third appearance of her career in game two, needing just one pitch to earn the first save of her collegiate career.
- Sheeran is now the third Gael to have a three-hit game so far this season, joining Chilcott and DiGuilio.
- Temple and Buck both had two hits in game one. It was the second multi-hit game for Temple this season and the first for Buck.
- Chilcott has reached base safely in all six games so far this year. DiGuilio and Meray saw their four-game hit streaks come to an end after coming up empty at the plate in games one and two, respectively.
- Iona's 5-1 start in conference play is the program's best since beginning MAAC play 7-1 back in 2018.
- The Maroon & Gold have won five of their first six conference games on the road to begin league play for the first time since 2010.
AROUND THE MAAC
- Rider swept Niagara in New Jersey, winning on a walk off in the nightcap.
- Monmouth went on the road and took two from Quinnipiac on Friday.
UP NEXT
Iona and Siena take to the field for another doubleheader tomorrow, beginning at 1:00 p.m. on the Siena Softball Field.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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