BUFFALO, NY - The Iona College Baseball team dropped its series finale against Canisius losing by a final score of 12-4, on Sunday afternoon. After Sophomore
Jim Kemp drove in his second run of the afternoon, Iona took a 3-0 lead but the Griffs managed to outscore the Gaels 12-1 the rest of the way to earn the victory from Demske Sports Complex.
GAME SUMMARY
Making his first start on the mound since March 26, sophomore
Blake Helmstetter didn't give up a hit in his three innings of work. Helmstetter struck out a season-high six batters including striking out the side in the second inning.
The Gaels provided Helmstetter with some early run support that began with senior
Jake Field reaching first on a single to start the second inning. Kemp followed up by doubling to left field, scoring Field from first for the game's first run. Passing the baton, senior
Luca Lotito continued his dominance this series with an RBI single, scoring Kemp from second and giving the Gaels a 2-0 lead.
With senior
Will Jennings on third base in the fourth inning, Kemp delivered again with an RBI single to right field for his second hit and RBI on the afternoon. Looking for more in the inning, sophomore
Phoenix Bowman lined a single the other way but trying to score from second, Kemp was thrown out at the plate to keep the score at 3-0.
In the bottom half of the inning, Canisius cut into the Gaels lead with a two-run RBI single from Josh Niles, making it 3-2. In the following inning, the Griffs got a leadoff home-run from Trevor Henneman to tie the game and Canisius got three more runs in the inning, taking a 6-3 advantage after five innings of play.
Canisius continued to stay hot at the plate, scoring three more runs in the sixth and seventh inning to open up a 12-3 lead. The Gaels offense had two chances to counter loading up the bases in both the sixth and seventh but the Griffs managed to escape both innings with only allowing one run which came off the bat of junior
Nick Forney on an RBI fielder's choice.
Iona wouldn't muster any more opportunities as Canisius took the ball game by a final score of 12-4, to sweep the weekend conference series.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Lotito finished the series with four hits and six RBI's to move him up to second best on the team for most runs batted in.
- Kemp's two runs batted in are a new career-high for RBI's in a game for the sophomore.
- Lotito and Kemp combined to drive in nine of Iona's 13 runs during the three-game series.
- Helmstetter's six strikeouts mark a season-high and are the second most in his career.
- For the sixth time this season, Field recorded two hits or more as the seniors now up to 24 hits on the year.
- Senior Nick Carnevale reached base twice including picking up a single in the seventh inning, extending his on base streak to 15 games.
UP NEXT
Iona will return home to City Park next weekend when they welcome in conference foe Saint Peter's for a three game series. Game one of the series is schedule for Thursday April 14th, at 3:00 PM.
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