NOTE: This page will be continuously updated with more information.
BUFFALO, NY - The Iona University softball team (18-29-1, 10-10 MAAC) earned the No. 6 seed in the 2023 Softball MAAC Championship, being hosted by top-seeded Canisius from May 10-13.
THEÂ TOURNEY SO FAR
The Gaels fell to No. 3 Marist, 2-1, in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday, moving to the elimination bracket.
Kara Zazzaro pitched a complete game, her 12th of the season, surrendering just two hits and striking out seven in the loss. One of the two hits was a two-run homer off the bat of MAAC Player of the Year Maddie Pleasants in the first inning, accounting for all of Marist's scoring.
Kayla Haywood was responsible for two of Iona's five hits and the Gaels' only run in the loss, finishing 2-2 at the dish.
Read the full Iona vs. Marist recap here.
Later that day, Iona faced No. 5 Siena in the elimnation bracket. With the season on the line,
Samantha Rieb tossed five innings, scattering three hits and allowing one unearned run before giving way to Zazzaro in relief. Rieb's five strikeouts were her second most in a start this season (6 vs. UMass Lowell, March 17). Zazzaro entered with the contest tied 1-1 and proceeded to toss three hitless innings in relief, earning the win after the Maroon & Gold scored three runs in the top of the eighth. A
Hannah Werth single and an intentional walk to
Jamie Sheeran loaded the bases for
Jessica Chilcott with two outs. Chilcott worked a 10-pitch walk, fouling off four consecutive two-strike offerings before drawing a base on balls that gave Iona a 2-1 lead in extra innings.
Kaylin Flukey followed with a single through the left side of the infield on the first pitch she saw, scoring Sheeran and Werth to provide the Maroon & Gold with a pair of insurance runs. Zazzaro would retire the side in order in the bottom of the eighth, sending Siena home and ensuring Iona at least one more game in the 2023 MAAC Softball Championship.
Read the full Iona vs. Siena recap here.
Iona survived and advanced on Thursday, outlasting the two-seeded Mount St. Mary's Mountaineers, 1-0, behind a two-hit, 14-strikeout performance by
Kara Zazzaro. The lone run came via an
Emma Capuano home run, her second of the season and the team's first of the conference postseason. For the second straight season, Iona has won two games in the MAAC Championship as the six seed.
Read the full Iona vs. Mount St. Mary's recap here.
SEASON RECAP
The Gaels swept Siena on senior day to wrap up the regular season, sliding into the sixth and final spot in the conference tournament. The season-ending pair of wins set up Iona and Marist for an opening round matchup on Wednesday, May 10 at 11:00 a.m. at Demske Sports Complex. The Red Foxes took both games from the Gaels in the penultimate doubleheader of the 2023 regular season before being swept by Fairfield the following day, slotting in at No. 3 in the MAAC standings.
The Maroon & Gold began conference play back on April 2 and 3 against Rider and Mount St. Mary's, winning three straight to begin league play. The Mount took the second game of the doubleheader in New Rochelle, splitting the season series. The Mountaineers earned the No. 2 seed in the 2023 MAAC Championship and will face the winner of No. 6 Iona and No. 3 Marist on Thursday, May 11 at 11:00 a.m.
Iona began a stretch of 10 straight league games, and 11 games altogether, away from home with a trip to Western New York to face Niagara and Canisius. The Gaels swept the Purple Eagles to move into first place in the league standings before dropping both games to the Golden Griffins and falling all the way to fifth place.
After splitting doubleheaders at Quinnipiac and Fairfield, Iona was swept at Manhattan and fell to an even 7-7 in league play with six conference contests remaining. The Gaels split with Saint Peter's at home, continuing to vie for the final spot in the postseason with the Peacocks and Broncs before ultimately clinching a berth into the tournament with the sweep of Siena on the final weekend of the regular season.
OF NOTE
KARA ZAZZARO
In her fifth season donning the Maroon & Gold, Zazzaro has continued to be Iona's ace in the circle. She finished the regular season with a 10-7 record across 24 appearances. She has made 17 starts, tossing 11 complete games and four shutouts. Zazzaro's 166 strikeouts are second most in the MAAC this season and entered postseason play 26 strikeouts shy of surpassing Sarah Jackson '12 for the most strikeouts (802) in an Iona career. Through three tournament appearances, Zazzaro has racked up 23 strikeouts and is now three shy of becoming Iona's all-time strikeouts leader for a single career.
Zazzaro also boasts the third lowest batting average against (.222) and fourth-lowest earned run average (2.24) in the MAAC. On Tuesday, Zazzaro was named to the All-MAAC First Team; it is the third consecutive season that Zazzaro has been named to the first team and the fourth all-conference honor of her career. This season, Zazzaro has racked up 10 or more strikeouts in eight contests, including a season-best 16 twice (March 22 vs. Fordham and April 3 vs. Mount St. Mary's).
In six appearances against the tournament field (entering play on Wednesday), Zazzaro is 3-2 with a 2.00 ERA, 38 strikeouts and a .197 BAA across 38.0 innings pitched.
JAMIE SHEERAN
Sheeran leads the conference in home runs (16) this season, having set the single-season program record earlier this season on the road at Stony Brook. She has hit twice as many homers as the next closest athletes in the MAAC (Rosie Gomez and Maddie Pleasants) and also leads the league in slugging percentage (.789) and OPS (1.241). Sheeran leads the team in nearly every offensive category in 2022, including batting average (.361), on-base percentage (.452), runs scored (22), hits (48), extra-base hits (24), runs batted in (40), total bases (105) and bases on balls (19). Her 13 multi-hit efforts and 10 multi-RBI contests are also team highs. For Sheeran, it marks the second straight year that she has been tabbed All-MAAC Second Team and it is her third overall all-league honor.
Against the tournament field (entering play on Wednesday), Sheeran is hitting .333 with a .529 on-base percentage across 33 plate appearances. Only one of Sheeran's single-season-program-record 16 home runs have come against the five other MAAC Championship participants (Canisius).
IONA'S PATH TOÂ A CHAMPIONSHIP
THE BRACKET
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)
