FAIRFIELD, CT – Iona baseball lost the two games of its weekend series against Fairfield on Saturday. The Stags won game one behind stellar starting pitching and the visiting team completed the sweep with their bats in game two. Iona falls to 3-9 in league play and Fairfield improves its season mark to 8-0 following the weekends results.
GAME ONE: FAIRFIELD 7, IONA 0
John Signore started the game on the bump for Fairfield and started melting the Iona bats from the first pitch. He went six innings and allowed only four hits and one walk while striking out a pair on way to his second win of the season.
Iona's best chance to get on the scoreboard came in the bottom of the first inning.
Tony Santa Maria singled to left field to begin the inning. Through a cascade of fielder's choice and smart baserunning, the Gaels got runners on second and third with one out. Signore was able to strikeout the red hot
Will Jennings and induce a lineout from
Jake Oliger to end the frame. The Maroon & Gold would not get a runner to third base for the remainder of the game.
The Stags jumped out early in the first inning on an RBI sacrifice fly from Sean Cullen. Fairfield doubled its lead with a solo home run to left field off the bat of Justin Guerrera. The Gaels trailed 2-0 after six innings. Things got out of hand in the seventh inning.
Fairfield scored five runs in the top of the seventh on two hits, three wild pitches, an error and three free passes. Iona took last licks in the bottom of the seventh trailing 7-0. The Gaels put two runners on base in the home half but
Nick Carnevale and
Jake Field were stranded on first and second when the game ended.
Blake Helmstetter started the game for Iona and went 6.1 innings and ended up suffering the losing decision surrendering three runs while allowing five hits and two walks. He struck out five batters. James Goswieler,
Loncey Conyers and
Jason Antalek all appeared in the seventh inning to try and stop the bleeding in the final inning of game one.
The Stags got one inning in relief from Eli Oliphant. He had one walk and two strikeouts among the five batters he faced in the bottom of the seventh.
Santa Maria, Jennings,
Brad Polinsky and Carnevale had hits for the Maroon & Gold.
Tyler Cannon and Carnevale both earned walks.
Dan Ryan and Guerrera each had two hits and two runs score for the Stags. Pinch-hitter Mike Caruso had one hit and two runs batted in.
GAME TWO: FAIRFIELD 10, IONA 2
Fairfield jumped out ahead of Iona in the top of the first inning with Guerrera driving home Mike Handal on a single to right field. The Gaels answered with their first run of the day in the bottom of the second inning when Cannon singled to left field to score Oliger. Iona took its first lead of the day in the third inning with Jennings legging out an infield single that pushed Field across home plate. The Gaels' short lead was aided by a Stags fielding error that made it second and third with one out.
In the top of the fifth inning the Stags retook the lead wit two runs on only one hit. Charlie Pagliarini and Caruso opened the frame with a pair of full count walks. Griffin Watson laid down a sacrifice bunt to make it second and third with one out. With the order turned around, Handal hit a triple to left field after an 11-pitch battle with Iona's pitcher
Ryan Martin.
Iona went down one-two-three in the fifth and sixth inning. The Stags made it a 4-2 advantage for themselves with another run in the top of the seventh inning. Pagliarini doubled to lead off the inning and crossed the plate one batter later courtesy of an Iona fielding error. Brandon Smith entered the game with runners on first and third with no outs and managed to hold Fairfield at bay and keep his team in the game.
The Gaels fell behind 5-2 after the top half of the eighth inning when Fairfield's Ryan Strollo strolled across home plate on an RBI single from Pagliarini.
The levee broke for the Maroon & Gold in the top of the ninth inning. The Stags scored five runs in their final at-bat on three hits, three walks and two hit by pitches. Guerrera hit his second home run of the day in the inning. Fairfield had six at-bats in the inning that went more than five pitches.
The Stags outhit the Gaels in game two, 10-5. Iona distributed seven walks and hit two batters. Five different Gaels appears on the mount and four took the bump for Fairfield. Colin McVeigh earned the win going tow scoreless innings after Bryson Cafaro started the game going the first four. Martin suffers the loss for the Maroon & Gold.
UP NEXT
The Maroon & Gold aim to get back on the winning track on Wednesday, April 7 on the road against Manhattan at Van Cortlandt Park. The Jaspers and Gaels will play two games this week and finish the regular season on Wednesday, April 14. First pitch of this week's doubleheader is scheduled for noon.
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