NEW ROCHELLE, NY – The Iona College baseball program dropped a pair of heartbreakers to Canisius College at City Park on Saturday. The Gaels and Golden Griffins battled for 14 innings in game one before the visiting team edged out a 5-4 victory. In game two, the pair of MAAC foes were tied heading into the seventh inning until Canisius struck late and ended up with the 8-5 decision.
GAME ONE RECAP: Canisius 5, Iona 4 (14 Innings)
The motif for game one was resiliency and timing for the Maroon & Gold. Iona epitomized both traits both in a positive and negative light. The Gaels scored all four of their runs in the game with two outs, and all the scores were in a come-from-behind effort. Runs were scored in opportune times, however the Maroon & Gold squandered numerous chances to score, stranding 22 runners on base.
Iona loaded the bases in the first inning but were unable to crack the scoreboard. In the second inning Canisius got a leadoff double from Vinny Chiarenza but freshman starter
Zach Grace was resilient and stranded the runner in scoring position on third base.
The Golden Griffins were able to get on the board in the top of the third. Mike Mazzara took advantage of a dropped foul out by the Iona defense and doubled to centerfield to open the frame. He was driven home by a groundout RBI from Dylan Vincent. Come the fourth inning the Golden Griffs tacked on another score via a Gael defensive miscue to make it 2-0 after four innings.
Grace was stellar on the bump for the Maroon & Gold going 6.1 innings in the start allowing two unearned runs on three hits and four walks. Grace struck out six batters and threw 105 pitches. He ended up with the no decision in the contest as
Thomas O'Sullivan came on in relief in the top of the seventh to get the final two outs.
Entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Iona had left the bases loaded twice, and in total they stranded seven runners in scoring position. However, resiliency rose above doubt in their final scheduled at-bat.
Jake Liberatore reached base on a throwing error with one out.
Jake Field singled to right field from the clean up spot and made it first and second. After a
Sam Punzi strikeout,
Jake Oliger singled to left field and scored Liberatore for Iona's first run of the day. Then
Will Jennings stepped up to the plate and hit a screaming liner to right field that hopped over the wall for a ground rule double. Gael Nation fans were ecstatic for the tie game, but also frustrated that the fence wasn't but just a few feet taller, for it would have been ballgame as Oliger was scampering home.
Thomas Hojnacki was put in as a pinch hitter with the winning run on third but he struck out swinging. He would avenge himself later.
After O'Sullivan pitched two-thirds of an inning,
Brendan Smith carried the Maroon & Gold through most of the extra innings. The graduate hurler ended up tossing 117 pitches over 6.2 innings, pulling his best Nathan Evoldi impression. The Golden Griffins scored one run off Smith in the top of the ninth inning with Kyle Kush earning the RBI being hit by a pitch. Again, Iona was down with its back against the wall.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Field and Punzi went down quickly. Oliger worked a walk and advanced to second base on a Jennings single down the left field line. Hojnacki golfed a flyball on a 1-0 pitch that one-hopped over the fence to score Oliger and tie the game at three. Again, for the second time in three innings, the Gaels were snake-bitten by a ground-rule extra-base hit rather than a traditional extra-base hit that would have ended the game.
The Gaels had a massive opportunity in the bottom of the 11th inning with runners on second and third with nobody out. Levi Abbott buckled up on the bump for Canisius and kept Iona off the scoreboard by striking out Jennings, getting Hojnacki to ground into a fielder's choice that got pinch-runner
Nick Forney thrown at home, and finally forcing a
Tyler Cannon ground out.
In the top of the 12th it was Smith's term to get the Gaels out of trouble. Canisius loaded the bases with two outs but Jake Burlingame grounded out back to Smith and Iona was still alive.
In the top of the 14th inning, Smith cruised through the first two batters getting a backwards K and a flyout to left field. Max Felsenstein singled to right field with two outs, bringing up Chiarenza. The Golden Griff righty took an outside pitched and carried it over the right field wall to make the score 5-3.
Ryan Martin entered the game to replace Smith on the mound and he struck out Burlingame to end the inning.
Smith, despite ending up with the loss for the Gaels, battled valiantly for Iona. In relief he through 6.2 innings scattering six hits and eventually allowing three runs, two earned, while striking out nine.
There was plenty of drama in the bottom half of the 14th inning. In similar fashion to the ninth, Iona's first two batters went in order. Santa Maria battled for a full count walk, and Liberatore again reached on an error by the third basemen. Field singled through the right side to score Santa Maria and push the tying run to second base. Freshman Dylan Winbrenner, who was forced into action behind the plate due to substitutions, had good swings but eventually succumb to a swinging strikeout that ended the game.
Abbott picked up the win for the Golden Griffins going five strong innings allowing three hits, one unearned run and two walks. He struck out four Gael batters.
Iona outhit Canisius in the game, 17-9. Santa Maria and Field each had four hits for the Maroon & Gold. Jennings ended with three hits. Punzi reached base twice on walks and once on a hit by pitch.
GAME TWO RECAP: CANISIUS 8, IONA 5
Canisius pounced on Gael starter
Drew Helmstetter for four runs in the top of the first inning. Chiarenza had an RBI triple that scored Jacob Victor and Carlin Dick. Vincent had an infield hit that scored Chiarenza to continue the rally. The Maroon & Gold found itself down a grand slam with Mike DeStefano singling between first and second to score Vincent. The Golden Griffins had four of their game-total nine hits in the first inning.
The Maroon & Gold scrapped across a run in the bottom of the second inning. Hojnacki and Oliger both earned two out walks off Canisius starter Andrew Fron. The duo advanced to scoring position via a wild pitch. Just a few pitches later Hojnacki slid into home after another wild pitch went to the backstop.
Helmstetter ended up going four full innings for the Gaels and surrendering five runs on three walks and six hits. He struck out four Golden Griffins. The final run Canisius got against Helmstetter came in the top of the fourth inning with Kenny Dodson scoring a RBI single up the middle from Mike Steffan.
Trailing by four, the Gael offense arose from its earlier slumber in the bottom of the fourth inning. Field singled to lead off the inning and Punzi followed it up with a walk. They each advanced on a wild pitch and Hojnacki drove home Field with a one-bagger. Oliger walked on five pitches and it was bases loaded with zero outs.
Tom Peltier entered the game to replace Fron and he used some witchcraft to limit the Maroon & Gold damage.
Brad Polinsky reached on a fielder's choice and Punzi crossed to score and make it 5-3. Jennings made it a one-run game with another fielder's choice RBI. Santa Maria walked to load the bases for
Nick Carnevale. Iona's starting third basemen hit a screamer down the third baseline but Canisius was able to turn a timely double play to end the Maroon & Gold rally before they could tie the game.
Ryan Martin entered the game in the top of the fifth inning and delivered a crucial shutout inning. The Maroon & Gold made it count scoring the tying run on an Oliger RBI fielder's choice to plate Liberatore who led the inning off with a single.
Both Canisius and Iona whimpered offensively in the sixth inning. The seventh frame was the deciding one.
Steffan and Dick both walked to lead off the inning and were immediately pinch ran for. The Golden Griffins got runners on second and third via a pass ball. With the leading run 90-feet away, Iona made a pitching change and brought in O'Sullivan for his second outing of the day. He went behind 2-0 to Chiarenza, and it did note bode well. Chiarenza, the Gael slayer it appears, hit his second home run of the game to score three runs and put Canisius ahead 8-5 heading into the bottom half.
The Maroon & Gold went down in order as Joe Barberio, the winning pitcher, struck out the side to end it.
Canisius outhit Iona in game two, 9-3. Liberatore, Field and Hojnacki had the hits for the Gaels.
UP NEXT
The Gaels host the Golden Griffins for another doubleheader tomorrow, Sunday, March 28. The time for game one is tentatively noon but be sure to follow ICGaels and Iona Athletics social media for updates with the possibility of inclement weather.
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