SPARTANBURG, SC - The Iona University softball team dropped a contest to USC Upstate, 6-5, falling to 2-3 overall to conclude its season-opening weekend.
Jamie Sheeran hit her third homer of the season in the seventh inning, but the Maroon & Gold came up just short against the undefeated Spartans.
GAME SUMMARY
USC Upstate scored in both the first and second innings, getting to freshman Dani Beckham early on. The Gaels found themselves down 3-0, but chipped away at the lead after an infield single by Sheeran plated Iona's first run in the third inning.
The undefeated Spartans added another run off of Samantha Rieb, who entered in relief of Beckham to begin the fourth inning. Iona found itself down 5-1 before freshman Alivia Lichtner rocketed her first collegiate homerun, a solo shot in the fifth inning to cut the deficit to three runs.
Upstate scored a crucial insurance run on an error in the bottom of the fifth, increasing the lead to 6-2. The insurance tally proved to be crucial because Sheeran blasted her third and the team's sixth homer of the season, a three-run shot in the seventh inning. The round tripper brought Iona within a run of the tournament host with just one out, but the Spartans managed to close the Gaels out and remain undefeated early on in 2023.
AROUND THE MAAC
- Rider defeated Wagner, 6-4, in Creek, North Carolina.
- Siena dropped a pair of games to UT Martin and FIU in Madeira Beach, Florida.
UP NEXT
Iona hits the road again next weekend for five games at the Liberty Invitational in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Gaels face UConn and Liberty (March 3), UConn and Radford (March 4) and wrap up play against Radford on March 5.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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