SMITHFIELD, RI — The Iona University baseball team suffered a late 12-6 defeat at Bryant in the series finale at Conaty Park. The Bulldogs earned the series sweep over the Gaels in the victory on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore
Josiah Ragsdale led Iona with two hits in the finale and had two runs batted in. Freshman JC Frias drove in a career-high two runs against the Bulldogs.
GAME SUMMARY
Ragsdale got the Gaels going in the top of the first inning with a triple to left field with one out. He came around to score in the next at bat as junior
Jayson Gonzalez lifted a sacrifice fly to left field for the 1-0 lead.
Bryant started the bottom of the first with two runners on and one-out. Back-to-back RBI singles gave the Bulldogs the lead. A sacrifice squeeze pushed the advantage to 3-1. Another run came across for the home team in the second inning on a sacrifice fly to left center.
The scoring continued for the Bulldogs in the third capitalizing on an Iona throwing error and a double to right field for the 6-1 lead.
Iona finally punched back in the fifth inning as freshman
Carter Groen led off with a single up the middle. The Bulldogs picked up back-to-back outs from there. Zollo lined an RBI triple to right field for the first run of the frame. Ragsdale followed that up with a double through the left side for the second run. Bryant escaped trouble with a fielder's choice to end the inning.
The Gaels continued momentum in the sixth inning with back-to-back walks by junior
Anthony Febo and graduate student
Jim Pasquale. Both runners advanced to scoring position on a fielder's choice. Frias stepped to the plate and roped a two-run double to right field to make it a one-run game. A hit by pitch and walk loaded the bases for Ragsdale. He hit a deep fly to center field for the RBI and sacrifice fly to tie the game at 6-6.
After three scoreless frames the home team put a runner in scoring position on a hit pitch and sacrifice bunt to begin the bottom of the seventh. The Bulldogs regained the lead, 7-6 on a single to left field.
Bryant sealed the game with five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a steal and throwing error by Iona and a grand slam to right field for the 12-6 win. The Gaels stranded three base runners in the final two innings of play.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Sunday's finale was the fourth straight two-hit game for Ragsdale. He drove in multiple runs for the fifth time this season.
- Frias drove in a career-high two runs in the series finale.
- The top of the Iona order of Zollo, Ragsdale and Gonzalez drove in four runs for the game.
- Iona's six through nine in the order all posted a hit.
- Junior Matt Zguro led the Iona pitcher's with three strikeouts on Sunday.
UP NEXT
The Gaels will head to Fairleigh Dickinson for a midweek matchup on Wednesday, March 13. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.