The Iona College baseball team kicked off the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) portion of the season with a three-game series with Fairfield in New Rochelle on March 22 and 23.

The first game was a slugfest, in which the Gaels (3-12 overall, 1-2 MAAC) fell 10-8. After the visitors scored in the first, the Gaels got their first run of the game in the second inning on an RBI single by freshman catcher Chris Russo.

Fairfield scored one run in each of the next five innings and held a 6-2 edge heading into the bottom of the eighth. Iona rallied with four runs to tie the game at six. The first run of the rally was scored on a Russo sacrifice fly with the bases loaded and nobody out.

After the second out of the inning was recorded, senior second baseman Bobby Vitulano drove in a run with a single. Senior outfielder Joe Torres tied the game with an opposite field single, which plated two runs.

The Stags countered and scored four runs in the top of the ninth. After cutting the deficit in half, Iona had runners on second and third with one out, but a double play ended the contest.

Later that day, sophomore Mariano Rivera Jr. pitched a complete game shutout in Iona’s 5-0 win. Freshman third baseman Chris Bruno gave the Gaels an early 2-0 lead with a two-run double.

In the fourth inning, RBI singles from sophomore shortstop Vinny DeMaria and sophomore catcher Carmine Palummo gave the Gaels a 4-0 lead. Vitulano put another run across in the fifth with an RBI single.

The Stags took the rubber-match of the series 9-1 on March 23. They seized a 3-0 lead after three innings, before piling on six runs in the last three innings.

Senior right fielder Joe Smith pushed the lone Iona run across with a double to left center in the bottom of the fourth.

The Gaels followed up their series with Fairfield with four non-conference games.

In their first matchup, Iona traveled to Lehigh on March 27, where they were again involved in a slugfest and prevailed 10-7.

The Gaels scored the first four runs of the contest and led 5-1 after three innings. Torres smacked a two-RBI triple in the second.

The Mountain Hawks scored six runs in the fourth to take a 7-5 lead. Iona tied the game at seven in the seventh inning on an opposite field two-run home run by sophomore first baseman Christian Choman. The Maroon & Gold took the lead for good in the eighth with a DeMaria RBI single.

Sophomore Jake Kurz, who got the win for the Maroon & Gold, pitched five scoreless innings out of the bullpen.

Iona hosted No. 19 Seton Hall at City Park on March 28. The Pirates won 8-0. This marks the fourth time this season the Gaels have been held without a run.

Seton Hall scored four in the second inning and added two in both the third and seventh innings. Iona managed only two hits.

After having its meeting with Central Connecticut State on March 30 postponed, Iona was scheduled to host Rutgers on April 2. The results were not available at press time.

The Gaels will return to the diamond on April 5 when they travel to Manhattan for a three game series before they play five games at home.

“We are good enough to compete with all the teams we play,” Torres said. “I expect us to win games. Our pitching is going to dominate. As long as we can score runs, we will win a lot of games.”