NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona College softball bounced back with a sweep of Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon at Donald E. Walsh Field. Iona's pitching trio of
Maddy Lowry,
Samantha Rieb and
Kara Zazzaro combined to allow just one run on seven hits across the pair of wins today.
GAME ONE: IONA 4, QUINNIPIAC 1
Lowry started game one for Iona on Sunday after a long day for the staff on Saturday. She made quick work of the Bobcats in the first, retiring the side in order to begin play in New Rochelle. Quinnipiac's Sydney Horan matched Lowry's effort with a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning to end a scoreless first frame on Sunday.
The Bobcats put a runner on second with one out in the top of the second against Lowry, but were unable to push across the game's first run. Lowry stranded that runner on third base by striking out Gianna Palmisano swinging. Brianna Bailey notched Iona's first hit with two outs in the home half of the second, but Horan ended the inning by getting Kaylin Flukey to fly out.
The Maroon & Gold struck first, pushing across a run on a Jessica Chilcott single in the third. Destiny Nardello opened the inning with a double, which was followed by a free base for Natalia Meray. Both runners moved up sixty feet on a wild pitch, then another sixty feet on Chilcott's single to center. Horan induced a 5-5-3 double play on a grounder off the bat of Allie Taylor that forced Meray to stay put at third base. After walking Emma Capuano, Horan retired Jamie Sheeran to limit the damage significantly.
Staked to a one-run lead, Lowry could not keep it. A one-out single followed by a two-bagger plated the tying run. Chilcott, Meray and Capuano teamed up to cut down the runner trying to extend the double into a triple to clear the bases and notch the second out of the inning. Lowry erased a two-out base on balls by getting a ground ball off the bat of Taylor Walton.
After Lowry shut down the Bobcats in the fifth to keep things tied, then Iona's offense broke the tie and made Lowry the pitcher of record in the bottom of the fifth. Meray began the inning with a double and Chilcott singled to put runners on the corners with nobody out. The bases were then loaded with Gaels after Taylor was hit by a pitch. Horan got a big first out at the plate on a fielder's choice for Capuano. With one out, Sheeran flied a ball to center deep enough to score Chilcott and put Iona in front, 2-1. An insurance run nearly came across, but Taylor was cut down trying to score on an infield single off the bat of Haywood, ending the inning with just the one run coming across.
Rieb entered the contest with a one-run lead looking for a six-out save to get the Maroon & Gold back in the win column. A lead-off single in the sixth amounted to nothing for the Bobcats as Rieb never allowed the runner to reach second, holding the lead. Iona cushioned the lead for Rieb in the home half of the sixth. Bri Bailey doubled to begin the sixth and moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Nardello singled on a come-backer off Horan's glove and gave way to Haley Weaver as a pinch runner, who promptly stole second. Weaver and Bailey scored on a two-out single by Taylor that granted the Gaels a 4-1 advantage.
Julia Woeste kept Quinnipiac alive for the moment with a two-out single against Rieb in the seventh, but the Bobcats could not bring the tying run to the plate. Rieb retired her opposition in the circle, Horan, on a grounder to third to notch her fifth save of the year and snap Iona's four-game skid.
GAME TWO: IONA 3, QUINNIPIAC 0
Zazzaro took to the circle to start game two for Iona, tossing a 1-2-3-4 first inning and turning it over to her offense. Iona came through for the senior in the opening frame, taking a 2-0 lead on Sheeran's 10th homer of the season. She blasted a 3-2 pitch over the fence in center with two outs, opening the scoring in game two.
Quinnipiac's Bridget Nasir singled in the first frame against Zazzaro, which turned out to be the Bobcats' only hit against Zazzaro for the afternoon. A runner did reach on an error in the second, but Kara stranded her in scoring position with back-to-back strikeouts.
After allowing a runner to reach on an error to begin the second, Zazzaro retired 15 straight batters before turning things over to Rieb in the seventh. The Maroon & Gold added a run in the third on an opposite-field single by Kayla Haywood, the Gaels' third two-out run of the contest.
Quinnipiac, down to its final out and trailing by three, ended its 19 at-bat drought without a base-runner when Kayla Jensen doubled off the fence in the seventh. Rieb retired Woeste on the first pitch she offered to end the game, secure her second save of the day and complete the sweep of the Bobcats.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Rieb earned the save in both wins today, upping her season and career total to six. That mark represents the most in both a single season and an individual career in program history.
- Lowry tossed five innings of one-run ball in game one, earning her third victory of her freshman campaign. It was the longest start of the rookie's young career and she now owns an impressive 2.76 earned run average across her 38 innings pitched.
- Zazzaro went six scoreless innings in game two, striking out five batters and limiting Quinnipiac to just two base-runners. She is now 11-9 on the season and leads the conference with 208 strikeouts.
- Sheeran provided the offense in game two, blasting her tenth homer of the season. She has officially surpassed her previous career best, set last season en route to MAAC Rookie of the Year honors.
- Iona shutout its opponent for the third time this season. It was the first shutout for the Maroon & Gold since the opening weekend of league play against Monmouth in April.
- Bailey had an all-around great day at the dish, hitting safely in five of her six at-bats. Chilcott, Haywood and Sheeran also registered multi-hit performances today.
- Chilcott, Sheeran, Haywood and Taylor were responsible for driving in Iona's seven runs today.
UP NEXT
Iona hosts St. John's on Wednesday, May 4. The Gaels, who defeated the Johnnies earlier this year in Queens, are scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch against St. John's. The game will be streamed on ESPN3/+.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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