NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College baseball fell in a heartbreaker to Saint Peter's losing by a final score of 8-7 on Saturday Afternoon. The Gaels jumped out to a 5-0 advantage but the Peacocks rallied in the top half of the ninth to steal the victory at City Park and take the series.
GAME SUMMARY
Iona jumped out to a 3-0 lead after RBI's from
Luca Lotito,
Jake Field and
Will Jennings. Lotito hit a sac-fly, scoring
Brad Polinsky from third after he tripled to lead off the second inning. Field and Jennings both hit consecutive RBI singles to extend the lead to 3-0 through three innings of play. Field's recorded his 100th career-hit as a Gael on the third inning RBI.
Already through three scoreless innings on the mound,
Joey Kasper held the Gaels three-run lead in check, getting an inning-ending strikeout in the fourth, and the Peacocks in order in the fifth inning to keep Iona in front, 3-0. Kasper finished with a career-high six strikeouts on the day.
Iona tacked on two more runs in the fifth inning, with Field and Polinsky providing the RBI's with Field and Polinsky providing the big hits again. Field's second RBI of the day, came on a double that scored
Nick Forney and Polinsky followed up with an RBI single to make it 5-0 through five innings of play. The senior catcher recorded seven hits in the three-game series this weekend.
The Peacocks got on the board in the sixth on a two-run RBI triple from Chris Marquart, cutting into the five-run deficit. With Kasper's afternoon finished after 5.1 strong innings,
Michael Untracht came in relief, getting the final two outs of the inning and stranding Marquart at third base.
With the score 5-3 now,
Jim Kemp delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to left field in the seventh inning, scoring Field and Forney on the play. Kemp's two RBI single brings the first baseman up to seven runs batted in on the season.
Trailing 7-3, the Peacocks began their comeback, scoring three runs on five hits to make it a one run ball game. Saint Peter's had a chance for more in the inning with base-loaded and only one-out, but reliever
Gavin Bates picked up a strikeout and a groundout to keep Iona in front.
With the Gaels unable to add any insurance in the bottom of the eighth, the Peacocks had another late rally in them. After the leadoff batter reached on a walk and then stole second, Saint Peter's had the tying run quickly in scoring position. With the runner now at third, Bates managed to pick up back-to-back strikeout but Mike Pollard managed to bring the runner home to tie the game, after reaching base on an error. The go-ahead hit came off the bat of Anthony Abbatine, who tripled to right field to keep Saint Peter's it's first lead of the game.
Looking for a rally in the bottom of the ninth, Jennings led off with a single and then stole second base to put himself in scoring position. Unfortunately the Peacocks would get the final three-outs to stand Field at second and take the game, 8-7 along with taking the three-game seires.
UP NEXT
Iona travels to Piscataway, NJ for a midweek non-conference matchup against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. The game is scheduled for Tuesday April 19th, at 3:00 PM.
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