NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University softball team downed Mount St. Mary's 8-2 on Saturday afternoon for the team's fifth consecutive win. The Gaels outhit the Mountaineers 11-7 at Donald E. Walsh Field to improve to 10-1 in MAAC play.
Four Gaels posted multiple hits led by a three-hit day from senior
Kenadie Gonzalez. Five different batters drove in a run. Junior
Brooke Acker recorded a team-high two RBI on a pair of sacrifice fly. Sophomore
Allison Hoppe earned the win in the circle with 10
th complete game of the season.
GAME SUMMARY
After a delayed start as quick flurry of rain passed through New Rochelle, the Gaels opened the bottom of the first on a leadoff walk by junior
Hannah Werth. She then stole second and advanced to third on a fielding error as Iona had runners on the corners with one out. Acker lifted a deep fly ball to left field to score Werth and give Iona the 1-0 lead.
A scoreless second stanza followed before Mount found the equalizer with a first-pitch home run to start the third inning. The Mountaineers looked to add another tally in the frame with a runner on third and two outs, but the Gaels were able to get a ground out to shortstop to end the inning.
The top of the order produced for the Maroon & Gold in the bottom half of the third as Werth picked up a leadoff walk and juniors
Brianna Fischer and
Hailey Guerrero followed with back-to-back singles. A wild pitch allowed Werth to score and advance the runners to second and third. A throwing error at first was the second run of the inning. An RBI sacrifice fly from rookie Sara Piña and an RBI single from Gonzalez followed to give Iona a 5-1 lead.
Iona kept things rolling in the bottom of the fourth with back-to-back singles from first-year
Caelin Kosvitch and senior
Brianna Bailey to open the frame. A wild pitch slid both runners into scoring position. Werth recorded an RBI single through the right side for the 6-1 advantage. The Gaels looked to tack on more, but the Mountaineers picked up three straight outs including a play at the dish on a sacrifice squeeze bunt attempt to hold the score.
Mount was held to just four hits through the first five innings of play. The Mountaineers clawed out three hits in the top half of the sixth with one run coming around to score on a two-out RBI single to left field.
The Gaels capped the scoring in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single from Fischer and a sacrifice fly by Acker to bring the final score to 8-2.
NOTABLE NUGGETS
- Gonzalez tied her career-high with three hits on the day for her third multi-hit contest of the year.
- Werth recorded her fifth multi-hit game of the season and extended her hitting streak to five straight games.
- Guerrero also pushed her hitting streak to five in a row with her eight multi-hit game on the year.
- Bailey added her fourth multi-hit game of the season.
- Hoppe improved to 8-5 on the year. She surrendered two runs runs and needed just 81 pitches for her eighth complete game victory.
UP NEXT
Iona concludes its five-game homestand at Donald E. Walsh Field with a doubleheader against Niagara beginning at noon on Tuesday, April 8.