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Iona University Athletics

ICSB
Brendan Willsch
1
Iona ION 21-23, 10-9 MAAC
3
Winner Saint Peter's SPU 21-31, 6-11 MAAC
Iona ION
21-23, 10-9 MAAC
1
Final
3
Saint Peter's SPU
21-31, 6-11 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Iona ION 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0
Saint Peter's SPU 0 0 0 0 3 0 X 3 6 0

W: N. Antuna (7-3) L: Zazzaro, Kara (11-10) S: K. Brennan (2)

0
Iona ION 21-24, 10-10 MAAC
2
Winner Saint Peter's SPU 21-31, 7-11 MAAC
Iona ION
21-24, 10-10 MAAC
0
Final
2
Saint Peter's SPU
21-31, 7-11 MAAC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Iona ION 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 2
Saint Peter's SPU 0 0 0 1 0 1 X 2 8 0

W: S. Senerchia (5-5) L: Rieb, Samantha (6-9)

Game Recap: Softball | | Jack Clark

Iona SB Swept; Falls to Fifth in MAAC Standings

JERSEY CITY, NJ - The Iona College softball team was swept by Saint Peter's on Sunday afternoon at Joseph J. Jaroschak Field. With Niagara's loss at Canisius, Iona is locked into at least the sixth seed in the postseason.

GAME ONE: SAINT PETER'S 3, IONA 1

Kara Zazzaro faced off with Nicole Antuna in game one of the Sunday doubleheader, dueling across the opening four innings of action. Two-out singles by Emma Capuano and Jamie Sheeran set up the Gaels with a run-scoring opportunity in the opening frame, but Kayla Haywood bounced out to third to end a scoreless first for Antuna. Zazzaro matched Antuna's first-inning effort, working around a two-out single to toss a clean first frame in Jersey City.

After allowing the two base hits in the first inning, Antuna struck out the side in the second. Zazzaro, after conceding a lead-off single to begin the home half of the second, struck out three straight batters to leave a runner on first for the second straight inning to begin her day.

Jessica Chilcott worked a one-out walk in her second plate appearance of the day, moving up 60 feet on an Allie Taylor ground ball. Antuna got Capuano to fly out to center to strand another Gael in scoring position and escape the third inning. Zazzaro worked her first 1-2-3 inning of the afternoon, retiring the Peacocks in order to finish her third scoreless frame of work in the circle.

It took until the fifth inning for each offense to get going, but Iona kickstarted things against Antuna. Kaylin Flukey blasted her sixth homer of the season to lead off the fifth, putting the Maroon & Gold on top, 1-0. Antuna set down the next three batters to limit the damage and turn it over to her offense. 

The Peacocks did not trail for long, starting the home half of the fifth with back-to-back singles and winding up with runners on second and third with nobody out. Zazzaro registered a strikeout, but with a one-out single to right plated two runs and gave Saint Peter's a 2-1 lead. After a sacrifice bunt moved Ketcham to second, she came around to score on a single down the right-field line to make it 3-1 in favor of the Peacocks.

Iona looked to respond in the sixth, but a one-out double by Capuano was all the Gaels could muster. Samantha Rieb relieved Zazzaro for the bottom of the sixth, working a 1-2-3 inning out of the bullpen. It was a great start to the seventh for the Maroon & Gold; Brianna Bailey started things with a single to left, then moved up to second on a walk drawn by Flukey. Brianna Buck, pinch hitting, singled off the glove of the third baseman to load the bases with no one out. Brennan relieved Antuna and was greeted by Buck's single, but a ground ball off the bat of Natalia Meray forced out the lead runner at the plate. A shallow fly ball to right was the second out of the inning, keeping Iona's runners in their places. Taylor gave the ball a good ride to center, but it was run down on the track in front of the wall and ended game one.

GAME TWO: SAINT PETER'S 2, IONA 0

After working a clean inning in relief in the game one loss, Rieb drew the start in game two for the Gaels. After the Gaels were retired in order to begin game two, Rieb managed to work around a two-out single to toss a clean first frame.

Iona's first hit of game two came leading off the third and it was Flukey, who pulled a single to left. It was her second hit leading off an inning; she homered to begin the fifth inning of the first game. Senerchia got three fly balls on a windy day in Jersey City, which all seemed to hang up long enough to keep balls from flying out of the park, ending the top of the third.

Rieb allowed a single in the third, but just as she did in her first two innings of work she stranded the runner, keeping things scoreless. Saint Peter's would get on the board first, scoring once in the fourth. With a runner on second and two outs, an infield single kept the inning alive and put a runner on third. A two-out fielding error plated the game's first run, but Rieb limited the damage by fielding a bunt and throwing out the runner at first.

After two quick outs to begin the fifth, Flukey doubled to the opposite field to put the tying run on second base. Buck flew out to left, ending the fifth and leaving a goose egg in the scoring column for the Gaels. Natalia Meray, who singled to lead off the sixth, advanced to second on a sacrifice by Chilcott. Representing the tying run, Meray moved up to third on a bloop single by Taylor. Senerchia got a big punch out, striking out Capuano for the second out. She stranded the tying run at third and the potential go-ahead run at second by getting Sheeran to pop up.

The Peacocks added insurance in the home half of the sixth, adding another unearned run against Rieb. A lead-off single to left ended up being misplayed and allowing the runner to advance to second. Back-to-back fly outs were followed by a double that made it 2-0 in the Peacocks' favor. Maddy Lowry entered to get the final out of the inning, inducing a grounder to end the sixth.

Brianna Bailey singled with one out, allowing the tying run to come to the dish, but Senerchia finished what she started by retiring Flukey and Buck and completing the sweep of the doubleheader for Saint Peter's.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

  • Capuano notched her eighth multi-hit game of the season in game one, singling and doubling in her three at bats.
  • Flukey had a tremendous day at the plate, swatting her sixth homer of the season in game one and reaching base four times.
  • Brianna Bailey hit safely in both games and has now registered a hit in five of her last six games. Flukey was the only other Gael to notch a hit in both games of the doubleheader.
  • Zazzaro struck out nine batters across her five innings of work and was charged with all three runs. She allowed six hits and issued one free pass.
  • Rieb worked a hitless inning in relief in game one and threw 5.2 innings in her game two start. She allowed two unearned runs on eight hits and did not record a strikeout or walk a batter in her 6.2 combined innings of work.
  • Iona had won its previous 13 contests against Saint Peter's before today, ending a winning streak that dated back to 2013. For the Peacocks, it was their first sweep of the Gaels since 2001.

UP NEXT

Iona, locked into a postseason spot, awaits seeding results for the 2022 MAAC Softball Championship. The tournament begins on Wednesday, May 11 and the double-elimination tournament runs through Sunday, May 15.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Be sure to follow Iona College athletics on all social media platforms:
ICGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (E-Mail Updates)
Iona Softball: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (E-Mail Updates)



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