NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University softball continued to roll on Friday afternoon with another Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep at Donald E. Walsh Field over Mount St. Mary's. The Gaels used a big second inning for a 7-1 game one win before a 1-0 11^th inning walk-off victory in game two.
 
The Maroon & Gold have won four straight games and are now 9-1 in league play. Strong pitching guided Iona this afternoon as sophomore Allison Hoppe tallied a career-high nine strikeouts in game one. Rookie Nadia Andarowski recorded her first career shutout and complete game in the second contest and recorded a career-high eight strikeouts.
 
Offensively six batters drove in a run in game one led by two RBI from junior Hailey Guerrero. First-year outfielder Caelin Kosvitch recorded the walk-off RBI single with two outs in the 11^th inning of game two.

GAME ONE: IONA 7, MOUNT 1

Mount struck first in the top of the first inning with a two-out RBI single down the left field line for the early 1-0 advantage.
 
Iona looked to answer in the bottom half of the frame, loading up the bases on a single by junior Hannah Werth and two walks with two outs in the bottom of the first but Mount got a lineout to centerfield to end the inning.
 
The Gaels got a leadoff double to the right field wall from senior Kenadie Gonzalez to start the bottom of the second. Gonzalez then advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt. Junior Alivia Lichtner then connected on an RBI single to left field on the first pitch to knot the game up. A walk and double steal followed to put runners on second and third. After a line out, Guerrero stepped to the plate and lined the 1-2 pitch to the gap in left center for a two-RBI double. Junior Brooke Acker then recorded an RBI double to left center. Iona loaded up the bases with two outs and Gonzalez recorded a four pitch RBI walk to bring the score to 5-1.
 
Both teams were then retired in order in the third frame as the starting pitchers settled in.
 
Iona picked things back up in the fourth inning, capitalizing on an infield error to put runners on second and third with no outs. Senior Brianna Bailey drove in the first run on an RBI ground out to short. Rookie Sara Piña then dropped down the RBI squeeze bunt to bring the score to 7-1.
 
After surrendering the run in the first inning on two hits in the first, Hoppe settled down in the circle for the Gaels. She yielded just one hit in the next six innings, struck out nine batters and needed just 92 pitches to secure the game one win.

GAME TWO: IONA 1, MOUNT 0 (11 Inn.)

It was a pitching duel between Andarowski and Ellie Meier for the Mountaineers in the second game of the day. Mount scattered two hits through the first four frames while Iona was held hitless till the bottom of the fourth with a one-out single by Guerrero and a two-out double by Acker.
 
The Mountaineers threatened first in the top of the fifth with a runner on third with two outs. Andarowski was victorious in a 10-pitch battle to secure the inning ending strikeout.
 
Iona had a runner reach second base in a few innings but was unable to advance any further. The Gaels scattered one more hit before the game headed into extra innings.
 
Both teams didn't get a runner to scoring position until the bottom of the 10^th as a sacrifice bunt advanced Kosvitch to second after reaching on a fielding error. An infield single followed for Werth to put two runners on. Mount escaped the inning with a ball hitting a batter running out of the batter's box and a fly out to keep the game going.
 
Piña registered a one-out double down the right field line to get momentum rolling in the 11^th inning. She then advanced to third on a passed ball. A walk followed for Gonzalez and sophomore Madison Campeau stole second base. The Mountaineers got the second out on a strikeout looking. Kosvitch stepped to the dish and battled in an eight pitch at-bat by lining an RBI single to right field to score Piña and secure the 1-0 win.
 
Andarowski pitched all 11 innings for the Gaels, totaling 131 pitches in her first career shutout win.

NOTABLE NUGGETS

• Guerrero picked up her seventh multi-hit and sixth multi-RBI games of the season in the game one win.
• Acker extended her hitting streak to eight straight games with a hit in both games today.
• Werth also pushed her hitting streak to four consecutive games.
• Hoppe pitched her ninth complete game of the season. She yielded a season-low three hits for the second time this year. Hoppe set a new career-high with nine strikeouts and didn't issue a walk against the Mountaineers.
• Andarowski earned a shutout victory in her fourth start of the season. She gave up just four hits and fanned eight batters while not issuing a walk.

UP NEXT

Iona looks to close out the weekend series against Mount tomorrow with the finale scheduled for noon. Stay tuned for updates by following @IonaSoftball on X.com