WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ - The Iona College baseball program fell in heartbreaking fashion to Monmouth on Saturday afternoon losing, 6-5. The Gaels had a 4-0 lead but Monmouth managed to comeback and with the game tied at 4 in the ninth, junior Nick Forney delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to put the Gaels in front. However the Hawks scored two in the ninth to earn the walk-off victory.

GAME SUMMARY

Making his first start of the season, senior Drew Helmstetter started his afternoon working around leadoff hits in both innings and in the second with runners in scoring position, Helmstetter picked up his first strikeout of the afternoon to keep the game scoreless through two innings.

With one-out in the third, sophomore Phoenix Bowman singled up the middle for his fifth hit of the season. The following batter senior Nick Carnevale reached base on an infield single and after a throwing error on the play, Iona had runners in scoring position. With two-outs and runners still on second and third, senior Will Jennings stayed hot, delivering an RBI single down the right field line bringing in Bowman and Carnevale.

Helmstetter protected the two run lead the following two innings, and in the top half of the fifth inning Iona extended their lead. Similar to how the third inning began, Bowman and Carnevale both reached base on consecutive singles up the middle. That setup an RBI opportunity for Forney who drove the ball down the right field line for a two-run RBI double to push Iona's lead to 4-0.

Helmstetter finished his afternoon after retiring the first batter he faced in the fifth inning. The seniors final line was 4.1 inning pitched, with three strikeouts on only three hits in the no-decision. Sophomore Alex Hunt came in relief and after walking the first two batters, Hunt recovered with a strikeout and an inning ending groundout to keep the Hawks off the board.

Hunt went on to pitch a scoreless sixth inning but in the seventh, Monmouth finally got on the board with an RBI single from Alex Barker to cut the deficit to three runs. With the bases loaded and the go-ahead run at the plate, Monmouth capitalized on an RBI walk and a two-run tying RBI double from Nick Campana that evened up the score. Senior reliever Michael Untracht bounced back, picking up an inning ending strikeout to keep the game tied at 4-4 through seven innings of play. 

The game remained tied entering the ninth and with two-outs and sophomore Jim Kemp on third, Forney came up clutch with an RBI single to break the tie and give Iona the ninth inning lead. 

Unfortunately Monmouth had another rally in them as the Hawks would use multiple walks that led to a walk-off walk, to take game two of the series, 6-5. 

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Helmstetter's 4.1 innings of work is the second longest outing of the lefty's career.
• Forney's three RBI's are the most by a Gael in a game this season. The junior has now driven in seven runs on the season.
• Jennings now has three RBI's (9) in the first two games of the series and he's now picked up a hit in 10 out of the last 11.
• Carnevale's two runs scored brings him up to 11 scored runs on the season which is a team-high.

UP NEXT

Iona and Monmouth will meet tomorrow at noon, for the series finale from West Long Branch. 

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