POMONA, NY - The Iona College baseball program dropped its series opener against Manhattan 11-9, in a game that had three different lead changes. The Gaels had six players drive in a run on 13 hits including
Will Jennings who hit his team leading fourth home run of the season on Thursday afternoon at Clover Stadium.
GAME SUMMARY
Trailing by a run after the two innings, Iona managed to put up three a spot that started with
Nick Carnevale drawing a one out walk. After
Jake Field singled to center,
Nick Forney delivered a two-run triple down the right field line, giving the Gaels a 2-1 lead.
Chris Mariani kept the inning going, driving in Forney on an RBI single for the Iona's third straight hit while extending the lead to two-runs.
Manhattan answered right back in the home half of the inning, scoring seven runs off of six hits and taking advantage of two errors committed in the inning to take an 8-3 lead.
The Gaels countered, putting themselves right back in the ball game with their second consecutive three-run inning. Jennings led off the fourth with a walk and a single from
Luca Lotito set up
Phoenix Bowman's RBI double to left center, scoring Jennings from second. Aggressive base-running from Lotito led him to score on a wild pitch and the final run of the inning came on a sac-fly from Field to cut the deficit to 8-6.
The Gaels managed to score for the third straight inning after
Drew Helmstetter pitched a scoreless fourth, retiring the Jaspers in order. With
Brad Polinsky on third, Lotito drove him in on a sac-fly to right field to make it a one run game.
Manhattan pushed the lead back to four-runs after a two-run RBI single and sac-fly made it 11-7. The Jaspers were threatening for more but a 5-4-3 double play helped the Gaels escape and kept the deficit at four runs after five innings of play.
With one gone and a runner on in the seventh, Jennings launched a two-run homer over the right field fence to bring Iona back within two runs on one swing. Unfortunately for the Gaels, the offense stalled there and despite putting two runners on in the last of the ninth, the Jaspers managed to close it out, winning the high scoring affair 11-9 in the series opener.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Jennings home run not only extends his home-run lead within the club but also brings him to 23 RBI's which ranks best on the Gaels.
- Forney's RBI triple brings Iona to 17 three-baggers on the year which is best in the MAAC and also tied for 29th in the country. Forney's three-hit performance also brings him to team high 50 hits on the year.
- For the fourth time in his last six games, Field picked up two hits or more and his sac-fly brought him to 21 RBI's. With two games remaining, Field leads the Gaels with a .306 batting average.
- Michael Untracht and Matt Zguro combined to pitch three scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Gaels with each reliever picking up a strikeout.
UP NEXT
The series will continue with game two scheduled for 1 P.M. at City Park with
Blake Helmstetter on the mound for the Gaels.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow Iona College athletics on all social media platforms:
ICGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
Iona Baseball: Twitter, Instagram and YouTube (Email Updates)
