QUEENS, NY - The Iona College baseball team suffered an 8-3 loss on Wednesday afternoon to St. Johns. Playing in its second straight non-conference game, Iona led 2-0 but it was the Red Storm who scored six runs in the second inning leading to the victory at Jack Kaiser Stadium.
GAME SUMMARY
With two-outs and nobody on in the opening frame,
Will Jennings stepped up and launched a home-run to right field to open up the scoring. Iona added another run in the second, using back-to-back doubles from
Luca Lotito and
Phoenix Bowman to give Iona the 2-0 lead on the road for the second straight day.
St. Johns answered quickly, scoring six runs on six hits all with two-outs in the following inning. The big blow in the inning came from Tate Ballestro who lined the go-ahead RBI double and the following batter Nick Cirelli hit a three-run homer to give the Red Storm a 6-2 cushion after two innings of play.
The Gaels managed to get a run back in the third, after
Jake Field scored Jennings on an RBI triple to deep left field, cutting the deficit to 6-3. Field makes it back-to-back games with an RBI but unfortunately for the Gaels, the offense couldn't manufacture anymore runs across the board.
After allowing a run in the third,
Loncey Conyers worked a scoreless fourth and fifth inning out of the bullpen for the Gaels, retiring the last seven batters he faced.
Vicente Mendoza followed in relief and after an unearned run came in to score, Mendoza got three consecutive fly-outs to end the sixth inning. Mendoza also went on to throw a scoreless seventh inning to complete his two innings of work in relief.
Entering the ninth trailing 8-3, Iona looked like they were beginning a rally similar to their last two games with back-to-back singles from Field and
Jim Kemp. However, St. Johns infield diminished any hope of a comeback, turning a game-ending double play to win the non-conference matchup 8-3 on Wednesday afternoon.
The Gaels and the Red Storm will meet again during the last week of the season on May 11th, at Jack Kaiser Stadium for the non-confrence finale.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Field's RBI triple brings him up to five three-baggers on the season which is two higher than anyone else in the MAAC. Field is also currently tied for second most triples in the country, only one behind the leaders, with seven players currently tied at six.
- After his first inning solo-shot, Jennings now leads the club in homeruns with three currently in the '22 season. The senior also now has 15 RBI's on the year which is one behind Field (15) for most on the team.
- After his four-hit performance yesterday, Bowman stayed hot with his second inning RBI double. The second baseman now has nine hits in the last five games for the Gaels.
- Lotito picked up two hits for the second straight game, making it 10 times the senior shortstop has recorded multiple hits this season in a game.
- Alex Hunt also threw a scoreless inning in relief for the Gaels as well in the eighth inning.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will shift their attention back to conference play with a three-game slate against Marist on the road, starting on Friday at 3:00 PM.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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