Game Summary

The Gaels jumped out to an early lead following junior Damian Rodriguez reaching on a strikeout wild pitch then would steal second. With one out in the inning, Overton would follow up his late inning home run yesterday with another one today. Taking an early 2-0 lead and showing how important his bat is in the three hole. Payamps would work a 1-2-3 inning to follow up and get the bats back up. Following a quick top of the second, Payamps ran into the only real trouble he saw in the game, loading the bases with two outs, but he would work his way out with a fly out. In the top of the third, the Gaels went for four striaght hits, Overton singled before Kemp would homer him in. Stephenson would then double before another home run this time from Gonzalez would give the Maroon & Gold a 6-0 lead going into the bottom of the third. Payamps would work around a lead off walk, striking out two in the inning.

In the fourth, Iona would strand one on base, but Payamps continued to trouble the Golden Griffins with another 1-2-3 inning striking out another two batters. Stephenson would get his second hit in the fifth, a single to left field, but he would get stranded on base. In the bottom of the frame, Canisius would work two walks but strand both runners on base. Payamps in the bottom of the sixth struck out the side in his final full inning of work.

Following two quick outs, Payamps would walk two hitters before exiting for Trinidad, who would force a fly out on his first batter. The top of the eighth saw Iona add another run after senior Matt Wessels hit a single to center and sophomore Jc Frias walked, Overton would blast a ground rule double to dead center that could have been worse had it not bounced over the fence. Trinidad had a quick bottom of the eighth and the Iona bats had another chance to add to their lead. Stephenson would lead off with a home run, his third hit of the game. Followed by Gonzalez knocking an infield single for his fourth hit of the game. Trinidad would allow two base runners in the ninth, but also strike out two before ending the game on a fly out to center. Payamps earned the win, his second of the year, while Canisius's Sam Staerker took the loss. Iona have now passed their win total from last year and look for the sweep of Canisius tomorrow.

TEAM STATS

• Iona just edged Canisius on strikeouts, 12-11
• Hits were 14 for the Gaels and 5 for the Golden Griffins
• Each club commit one error
• The Maroon & Gold went 3-4 on stolen bases, while Canisius went 1-1

notable nuggets

• Overton now has three home runs in the series and reached 50 career hits for Iona.
• Gonzalez is now just one hit shy of 100 career hits.
• Iona ranks fourth in both batting average and earned run average in the MAAC

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