NEW ROCHELLE, NY - The Iona University Baseball team earned its second consecutive win, defeating Siena 6-5, in walk-off fashion in the ninth inning.
Anthony Zollo came across to score the winning run while
Matt Zguro picked up the win on the mound, en-route to Iona clinching the weekend series win over Siena at City Park.
Game Summary
Carl Kuentzel got his afternoon started with three strikeouts and in the second inning, helped himself out, fielding two ground balls on his way to a scoreless frame.
Nick Forney opened up the scoring in the bottom half of the second with his first career home-run to give the Gaels an early 1-0 lead.
Siena answered in the ensuing inning, scoring four runs on three hits and taking advantage of an error to take the lead. Vince DiNicola drove in the first runner on a single, and an error by the Gaels led to two more runs scoring on the play. Later in the inning Vincenzo Castronova singled to right field, driving in Siena's fourth run in the third.
Trailing 4-1,
Josiah Ragsdale sparked the Gaels comeback, crushing a game-tying three-run homer to level the score through four innings. Ragsdale's home-run marked the first of his career and the freshman has now driven in four runs through the series' first two games.
The Gaels regained the lead in the fifth courtesy of a
Luca Lotito RBI double that scored Zollo on the play.
Tyler Lender was the first man out of Iona's bullpen and pitched a scoreless sixth and seventh inning to keep the Gaels 5-4 lead intact.Â
Siena managed to even up the score in the eighth following a sac-fly from Aidan Stewart.
Eric Gialloreto recovered, getting an inning ending fly-out to keep the game leveled.
Matt Zguro came on to pitch the top half of the ninth and kept Siena off the board after picking up a strikeout and making a nice play on a slow rolling grounder to end the inning. Overall Iona's bullpen pitched over three key innings while only allowing a run on three hits.
Zollo drew a one out walk and went on to advance to third during the next at-bat following a failed pick-off attempt by the pitcher. With two-outs in the bottom of the ninth and Zollo still on third base,
Jake Field grounded a two-strike pitch but an error from Siena allowed Zollo to score as the Gaels earned their ninth win on the season in walk-off fashion.
Up Next
Iona will look to complete the sweep over Siena tomorrow at noon at City Park.
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