Following a sweep at Manhattan, Iona’s baseball team had to travel to Siena to play in a difficult three-game set against their MAAC rivals.

The first game of their series saw the Gaels’ bats get put to rest thanks to a great outing from Saints starter Ryan Poplawski. Poplawski went the distance in his start, going seven innings in a complete game shutout.

Iona’s sophomore Eddie Macaluso also hurled a complete game, striking out seven in a losing effort.

Game two of the doubleheader saw the Gaels getting all of their scoring in the fourth inning thanks to an opposite-field home run from senior Michael Chiaravalloti.

With the Saints rallying in the fourth inning, senior Derrick Bligh was brought into the game and quieted Siena’s bats. Bligh went on to pitch four innings of one-hit ball to secure a 2-1 win for Iona.

In the rubber game of the series, the Gaels got a strong outing from junior Matt Marley and an effective fourth inning to take the series with a 4-3 win.

The fourth inning proved to be huge for the Gaels, with sophomore Joe Torres and junior Matthew Kriss scoring without either player getting a hit.

Riding a winning streak, the Gaels were put to work in a non-conference encounter at Hartford.

Five different pitchers helped to combine for the shutout, with Chiaravalloti’s two-run single in the sixth proving to be all of the offense that was needed in the win.

Iona returned to conference play with a three-game set against Niagara.

The first game of the series saw an offensive explosion by the Gaels. Iona’s offense was triggered in the fourth inning.

Down 2-1 at the bottom of the frame, the Gaels scored eight runs, highlighted by a two-run double from senior Eric Capowski with the bases loaded.

In the seventh inning, Iona had a 9-4 lead when senior James Beck came up with the bases loaded. Beck promptly unloaded the bases with his first collegiate grand slam, giving Iona a 13-4 lead.

In the eighth inning, senior Chris Burke became only the fourth Iona player to have 200 career hits when he hit a big fly of his own to left field, which ended the scoring for the game with an 18-5 Gaels win.

The nightcap saw the Gaels go down 4-0 going into their final turn at-bat.

The Gaels then managed to rally, tallied three runs and put the team into a position to win with the bases loaded and two outs. The Purple Eagles, however, got Chiaravalloti to ground out to end the game.

In the final game of the series, Iona found themselves down in what was a slugfest.

The Gaels were able to tie the score at eight in the sixth inning, but Niagara rallied to tally nine runs in the final three innings to win 17-8.

This upcoming weekend will see the Gaels travel to Staten Island for a three game non-conference series with Wagner before a midweek matchup at Seton Hall.

The Gaels will then face Marist at Salesian Field in a critical three game series to close out April.