The Iona University baseball team owns a 6-26 record through the first two months of the 2024 season.
The Gaels were set to open April with a game at Long Island University, but the game was postponed, leading to an April 5 matchup with Quinnipiac University.
The three-game set kicked off at 3 p.m., with Andrelys Payamps heading to the mound for the Gaels. Payamps got roughed up in his outing, allowing six earned runs and four walks in his 2.2 innings of work. Freshman Carter Groen tried to get things going offensively and succeeded, posting a 2-for-3 afternoon with a pair of RBIs. James Kemp added an RBI of his own and scored a run as well.
The Bobcats outhit the Gaels, however, and they took Game 1, 12-3. Quinnipiac’s batters continued their hot streak in the second game as well, scoring three early runs in the bottom of the first inning. They ended up posting runs in every inning except the eighth and ninth, eventually winning by a score of 9-5. The third game was a back-and-forth battle throughout, with leads exchanged until the sixth inning, when Iona held a one-run lead. Quinnipiac rebounded in the eighth, however, scoring three runs en route to a 6-4 win.
Iona then returned to New Rochelle’s City Park for a one-off outing against Wagner College. Groen was Iona’s lone hit within the first six innings of the game, a period in which Wagner scored 11 runs. The Gaels added two runs in the seventh through Garret Gray and Jordan Overton RBI doubles, but Wagner’s 12 total runs were too much to overcome in a 12-2 loss.
Iona fell 14-4 in the first game of a three-game series with Manhattan College, scoring three runs in the third inning, but only one more the rest of the way. During a rainy Game 2, Jim Pasquale, James Kemp and Josiah Ragsdale totaled five RBIs and five base hits. One of Kemp’s hits was a home run, his first of the season. Payamps rebounded after his rocky last start and struck out a career-high eight batters in his five innings of work. Alex Hunt, Matt Zguro and Eric Gialloreto held the Jaspers scoreless for the remainder of the game, bringing the Gaels to a 7-2 win.
Iona won their second straight game a day later, in a 9-8 victory.
The Maroon and Gold were relentless at the plate, recording a season-best 15 hits. Anthony Zollo posted three of them, along with three RBIs and a run scored. Manhattan tried to make it interesting with a three-run ninth inning, but Iona’s Zguro held strong and struck out two to win the game.
Iona’s next series is against St. Peter’s University, starting on April 19 at City Park.
