FARMVILLE, VA - The Iona University Baseball team dropped game one of their weekend series at Longwood, falling to the Lancers 5-4, on Friday afternoon. The Gaels rallied from two runs down to tie the game in the seventh, and came within 90 feet of tying the game in the final inning, but Longwood managed to hold off the Gaels.
The Gaels had three different players drive in a run,
Will Jennings,
Phoenix Bowman and
Anthony Zollo.
Game Summary
After surrendering a run in the opening inning,
Teo Torrado dialed in, only allowing one run across the next four innings on the mound. Torrado matched a season-high four strikeouts, with all four coming in the third and fourth inning.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the fifth, Bowman lined a single for the Gaels first hit of the afternoon and two batters later, Jennings scored Bowman on an RBI double to get the Gaels on the board.Â
The Lancers got a run back in the sixth but Iona catcher
Anthony Febo's stellar defense helped limit the damage to only a run. Febo accounted for the final two outs of the inning, throwing out a runner trying to swipe third, and held the tag down on a runner dashing for the plate for the final out of the inning.
Phoenix Bowman delivered Iona's second run of the afternoon, scoring
Josiah Ragsdale from first on an RBI double. Trailing 3-2, Zollo tied the game on a two-out RBI single to level up the contest in the seventh inning.
Longwood quickly reclaimed the lead in the ensuing inning, as Ethan Barnes came around to score on a wild pitch.
Thomas O'Sullivan came in relief and recorded three outs including an inning ending strikeout, stranding runners on the corner. Longwood added an important insurance run in the eighth inning on an RBI single from Barnes but O'Sullivan finished his outing retiring his final two batters to keep the score at 5-3.
Entering the ninth down two runs the Gaels managed to bring up the go-ahead run to the plate. Bowman began the inning reaching base on a walk and Jennings advanced him to third following a single for his second hit of the game. With runners on second and third, Zollo brought Iona within a run on a fielder's choice but on the same play, Jennings was caught trying to advance from second to third. The Lancers got the final out on groundout to hold on and take game one of the series from Buddy Bolding Stadium.
Up Next
The Gaels and Lancers will play a doubleheader tomorrow beginning at noon. Both games will be streamed on ESPN+
Social Media
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