NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona University Baseball team kicked off their final series with a dominant win against St. Peter's. Senior
Eric Gialloreto, in his potential final career outing, produced both his best and Iona's best start of the year. A complete game with six strikeouts, nine hits and just one walk. Offensively, graduate student
James Kemp and junior
Anthony Zollo had three hits, while senior
Anthony Febo, sophomore
Jordan Overton and freshman
Sean Stephenson produced two hits. Iona also ran the bases well with four steals, two from graduate student
Jayson Gonzalez, one from junior
Damian Rodriguez and the last from Kemp. The Gaels kept their playoff hopes alive and look to continue this trend tomorrow night.
Game Summary
The Gaels fell behind in the first inning as Saint Peter's drove in a runner with a two out single. In the bottom of the first Iona manufactured a run in a wild double play. Following three straight singles to lead off the inning, Kemp hit a soft liner to the second baseman who was unable to grab it. The second baseman flipped it to the shortstop who stepped on second then threw it to first before getting in a run down with Overton, who was already out. The Gaels avoided the triple play and were able to capitalize. Gonzalez and sophomore Jc Frias hit back-to-back single, with Gonzalez driving in a run. Zollo walked before Febo singled down the line scoring two to go up 4-1. After a 1-2-3 top of the second, The Maroon & Gold continued to drive in runs. Rodriguez led off with a walk and stole second as Stephenson would single him over to third before advancing on a wild pitch himself. Overton walked to load the bases and Kemp would smash a single off the walk to drive in two more. Frias would ground out and drive in a run to go up 7-1.
Gialloreto would allow three hits and strike out two over the next two innings, before Iona would get back in the run column. Kemp and Gonzalez had back-to-back walks before a double steal attempt got both in scoring position. Zollo would drive in another run before the inning ended and the Gaels were now up 8-1. Gialloreto in the fifth only allowed a walk before going 1-2-3 in the sixth. Iona would score again on a Zollo double to go up 9-1. In the seventh, Gialloreto allowed a single, but would strike out two and avoid any trouble. Zollo would get his third RBI in the eighth inning off of a single through the right side for the final run and lead 10-1. The Peacock would hit a two run home run in the top of the ninth, but Gialloreto would finish off his complete game and grab his fourth win of the season. St. Peter's Paxton took the loss.
TEAM STATS
- Iona won the strikeout battle, 6-3
- The Gaels out hit St. Peter's 15-9
- Neither club commit an error
- The Maroon & Gold stole four bases
notable nuggets
- Gialloreto shoved in his best start of his career and final game at City Park.
- Gialloreto's complete game was the first since Blake Helmstetter's against Quinnipiac on 4/22/2022.
- Overton reached 50 hits on the season.
Around the Maac
- Quinnipiac defeated Sacred Heart,4-3
- Niagara held off Canisius, 7-5
- Siena just missed the comeback against Marist, 13-11
- Rider and Fairfield will be resumed tomorrow with Rider up 1-0
- Mount and Manhattan was postponed
Commencement honorees
A congratulations to the 17 graduates that will be receiving their undergraduate or graduate diplomas tomorrow morning.
Up Next
- Iona are back in action tomorrow, Friday the 16th, at 5:00 p.m. at City Park.
