NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona University softball team swept a doubleheader against Rider on Sunday at Donald E. Walsh Field to begin league play.
Kara Zazzaro tossed a complete-game shutout in game one and Iona used a combined effort from
Alyssa DeJianne and
Samantha Rieb to complete the sweep in game two.
GAME ONE: IONA 1, RIDER 0
Zazzaro began the afternoon by striking out the side in the top of the first inning, adding her fourth punchie in a scoreless second frame. The lone run of the afternoon came in the bottom of the second courtesy of a triple by Alivia Lichtner.
Brianna Bailey led the inning off with a single to left before being forced out at second on an Emma Capuano grounder. After Schmierer retired Destiny Nardello, Lichtner tripled down the line just out of the reach of the diving left fielder, bringing home Capuano for what would be the contests' only run.
Rider put the tying run in scoring position in the third, sixth and seventh innings, but Zazzaro worked through the jam each and every time. Perhaps the biggest play was Kayla Haywood's diving catch that was originally ruled a trap. The umpires huddled and overturned the call that ended the third inning and kept the Broncs off the scoreboard. Zazzaro would ultimately strand the tying run on second in the seventh with a pair of fly outs to secure the game one win.
GAME TWO: IONA 5, RIDER 3
Iona put three runs on Stoeckel, the game two starter for the Broncs, all of which were unearned. Bailey reached on an error at third to start the inning and Capuano and Acker followed with base hits to load the bases. Lichtner grounded out for the second out with the play going to home to force out the lead runner. With two outs, Kayla Haywood ripped a bases-clearing double into the alley in left center, forcing Stoeckel out of the contest.
The Gaels scratched across another run in the third inning after Hannah Werth finished a long at bat by drawing a bases-loaded walk. Niegocki would escape the bases-loaded, one-out jam with a pop out and a punchout. Iona added one more insurance run in the fifth on a Brooke Acker double that scored Werth, pushing the Gaels' lead to five runs.
Iona's insurance runs in the third and fifth proved critical after Rider plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Alyssa DeJianne protected the lead by retiring Niegocki, who represented the tying run, to end an eventful sixth inning. Samantha Rieb entered in relief in the seventh, shutting the door on the Broncs to secure a save and complete the sweep of Rider.
UP NEXT
Iona returns to action tomorrow, Monday, April 3 in a doubleheader against Mount St. Mary's. The Gaels and the Mount play a pair in New Rochelle beginning at noon on Donald E. Walsh Field.
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