The 2024 spring season for Iona University baseball has not been the best of seasons. Throughout the first two months of the season, Iona has only won two out of the 18 games they played. However, during the first half of April, the team has picked up some momentum, including a three-game win streak from April 13-16.
The Gaels kept up their win streak against St. Peter’s University, winning the series 3-0.
The first game, which took place on April 19, was a 13-12 Iona win. The Gaels were led on offense by sophomore right fielder, Josiah Ragsdale, who went 3-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs.
The second game on April 20 ended 3-0, with the Gaels being led by an eight-inning, nine-strikeout outing from junior pitcher, Andrelys Payamps.
In the final game of the series on April 21, both senior first baseman, James Kemp, and graduate student, Jimmy Pasquale, hit home runs to push the Gaels over the Peacocks, 8-6, and extend the win streak to six games.
The Gaels would play a non-conference game on April 24 against the Long Island University Sharks, where, despite a 3-for-4, one home run game from Ragsdale, the Gaels would lose 8-2.
Iona would head back into MAAC play with a three-game series against Mount Saint Mary’s University, in which the Gaels would drop all three games.
Despite a valiant effort, Iona would only get five hits in a 6-0 loss on April 26.
On April 27, the Gaels would be down 6-2 by the end of the eighth inning, but a three-run ninth inning would help Iona close the gap. A turned double play, however, would stop the Gaels’ comeback, and they would lose 6-5.
The Gaels would score five runs again the next day but would allow six more runs and would lose 12-5, extending their current losing streak to four games.
Iona still has 11 games remaining in their regular season. The Gaels round out their non-conference schedule with a May 1 matchup at St. John’s University, a three-game series on the road at Villanova University from May 3-5 and a single away game at Yale University on May 8. Iona then ends their conference, and regular season with two, three-game series, one away at Rider University from May 10-12 and one at home against Siena University from May 16-18.
