NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona University softball team dropped its 2023 home opener to Sacred Heart, 5-1, on Tuesday afternoon at Donald E. Walsh Field. A
Jessica Chilcott double drove in Iona's lone run of the afternoon.
GAME SUMMARY
Sacred Heart's Jenna Mowad greeted Iona starter Alyssa DeJianne rudely, homering to lead off Tuesday's contest in New Rochelle. DeJianne would later allow a single, but stranded the runner to limit the damage to just one run.
Iona's offense got the run right back, getting to Emily Heath almost immediately. Kayla Haywood led off the home half of the first with a triple over the right fielder's head, eventually coming around to score after Chilcott laced a double off the fence in center. Heath retired the next two batters to keep the score even at 1-1 after the first full inning.
DeJianne settled in for a while, but Heath ran into some more issues in the second inning. Brooke Acker was hit by a pitch to begin the inning, followed by singles from Emma Capuano and Destiny Nardello that loaded the bases with no outs. Heath struck out the next two batters and induced a grounder to short to escape a bases-loaded, no-out jam without allowing a run to score.
Heath would face the minimum in the next two innings, while DeJianne held the opposition scoreless until the fifth. A lead off walk and an infield single put two Pioneers on the basepaths with no outs. A grounder allowed Iona to cut down the lead runner for the first out, but a single through the middle plated the go-ahead run. Kenadie Gonzalez cut down the runner from first trying to advance to third after the throw home was just late. Aly Gonzalez followed with a two-out homer to the opposite field, putting Sacred Heart ahead 4-1. DeJianne retired the next batter to end the inning.
Jamie Sheeran stepped to the plate as the tying run in the bottom of the fifth, but was retired via a ground out. Samantha Rieb entered in the sixth and worked around a base hit to toss a clean inning in relief. Kaylin Flukey found herself in the same situation as Sheeran an inning prior, but was punched out as a pinch hitter to end the sixth.
The Pioneers manufactured an insurance run in the seventh and Heath completed what she started, working around a leadoff single to earn the victory over Iona on Tuesday.
UP NEXT
Iona returns to action tomorrow (March 22) against Fordham at 3:00 p.m. from Donald E. Walsh Field. The game will be streamed live on IonaGaels.com via Iona Insider.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Be sure to follow Iona Athletics on all social media platforms:
IonaGaels: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (E-Mail Updates)
Iona Softball: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube (E-Mail Updates)
