BUFFALO, NY - The Iona College softball team upset No. 3 Siena, 7-5, in the opening game of the 2022 MAAC Softball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at Demske Sports Complex.
Jessica Chilcott and
Jamie Sheeran hit homers, while
Kara Zazzaro and
Samantha Rieb combined to snap Siena's 10-game winning streak and move on in the winner's bracket.
GAME SUMMARY
The opening pitch of the afternoon clipped Chilcott's elbow, placing her on first to begin the first frame in Buffalo. Allie Taylor sacrificed Chilcott to second, but Siena's Adriana Romano battled back from 3-0 to strike Emma Capuano out and then punched out Sheeran to strand a runner in scoring position to end the top of the first.
Zazzaro issued a lead-off walk to Isabella Pardo, who moved up a base on a sacrifice bunt, just as the Gaels had done earlier. Unlike the Gaels in the first, Siena cashed in with a single, scoring the first run of the game. Mikala Fletcher moved all the way to third after the relay throw bounced away, but Zazzaro retired the next two batters via the strikeout to limit the damage in the opening frame.
A dropped pop fly on the infield and a four-pitch walk allowed Iona to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base in the second, but with two outs. Natalia Meray flied a ball to right that would seemingly end the inning, but the ball was dropped and allowed Kaylin Flukey to score the tying run from second base. After Siena, the conference's best defensive team statistically, committed a pair of errors in the frame, Chilcott really made it hurt by blasting a three-run bomb to left. The blast was her 10th of the season and gave the Maroon & Gold a 4-1 cushion.
After being staked to a three-run lead, Zazzaro worked around a one-out single by striking out the next two batters to toss a clean second inning and protect the lead. With two runners on and one out in the third, Zazzaro induced a grounder to third that Capuano collected, stepped on the bag and fired across the diamond to complete the double play and end a potential rally for the Saints.
Zazzaro advanced on through the fourth inning with ease, but ran into some issues in the fifth. Back-to-back one-out singles forced Zazzaro to give way to Rieb. The first offering from Rieb was sent into the gap and pushed across two runs. Her third pitch of the frame was slashed into the outfield and plated the tying run. After the third consecutive hit of the inning against Rieb, which also happened to deflect off of her leg, the sophomore induced a 6-4-3 double play that ended the inning and stranded the go-ahead run on third base.
The Maroon & Gold did not trail for very long at all. Sheeran hit the second pitch Romano offered to start the sixth over the fence in right-center, her MAAC-leading 11th home run of the season. Kayla Haywood looped a single into center to follow, then moved up a base on a walk drawn by Flukey. Brianna Bailey sacrificed both runners, then a walk to Destiny Nardello filled the bases with Gaels. A successful squeeze laid down by Meray plated Haywood just ahead of the throw and gave the Gaels a two-run lead. After Chilcott was set down on strikes for the second out, Taylor blooped a single down the left-field line and gave Iona a 7-4 advantage late in the contest.
Rieb, now in line for the win after a big inning by her offense, allowed three singles and a run in the home half of the sixth. Still ahead by two runs, Rieb started the seventh inning for Iona but exited in favor of Zazzaro after a lead-off walk. With the tying run at the plate and nobody out, Zazzaro struck out Ava Fitzmaurice on a 3-2 pitch to secure a huge first out. She needed just three pitches to notch the second out, striking out her seventh victim. Bonewit hit a ball to center, but Chilcott camped under it and corralled it to finish off Iona's upset victory over Siena.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- During Siena's 10-game win streak that Iona snapped today, the Saints had allowed more than three runs just once. The Gaels' seven runs today were the most that Siena has allowed in a game since April 24 against Quinnipiac.
- Zazzaro, who started the game for Iona, re-entered and inherited a runner in the seventh. She shut the door and notched her second save of the season. In total, she pitched 5.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks. She struck out seven batters.
- Rieb was credited with the victory, throwing 1.2 innings in relief. She scattered six hits and walked a batter, allowing two runs.
- Sheeran's homer to begin the sixth started a three-run inning for the Gaels. It was her 11th blast of the season, the most in the conference.
- Chilcott's three-run shot in the second gave Iona its first lead of the day. The homer was her 10th of the season, tying her career high in the category.
- Taylor was the only Gael to register multiple hits, the fifth multi-hit game of the season for the Robbinsville, New Jersey native.
- Five of Iona's seven runs were scored by the 5-9 hitters of the batting order.
UP NEXT
No. 6 Iona moves on in the winner's bracket and will face No. 2 Fairfield tomorrow, May 12, at 11:00 a.m. on ESPN+.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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