Following a sweep of George Washington to secure its first wins of the season, the Iona baseball team traveled down to Philadelphia to take part in the Villanova Classic.

In the first game of the classic, Iona was able to secure a close 4-3 victory against Saint Josephs.

Iona got its first two runs in the second inning on a run scoring double play and an RBI single from Senior Chris Griffin.

However, the Hawks were able to take back the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning off an RBI single from freshman Mike Muha.

In the seventh inning, Iona was able to tie the game on an RBI single from junior Michael Chiaravalloti before sophomore Matthew Kriss drove in freshman JT Torres in the top of the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly to give the Gaels the win.

Senior Justin Wiley was able to register his second win of the season after pitching eight innings, registering nine strikeouts in the process.

The next day, Iona’s bats put up their best game of the season to date with a 13-3 win over Villanova.

Iona was boosted mainly from a nine-run rally in third and fourth innings.

During those two innings, each player on Iona was able to record at least one hit. The Gaels’ offense was mainly powered from Kriss, sophomore Kyle Charron, and juniors Chris Burke and James Beck.

Freshman Eddie Macaluso was able to register his second collegiate win with a complete game over the Wildcats.

In Iona’s final game of the Villanova Classic, the Gaels lost 5-4 to Temple. Iona was able to record 14 hits, with Burke going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI double, while freshman Joe Smith was able to hit a double, record a stolen base and had two RBI’s.

However, a five-run rally from the Owls in the final three innings was huge for Temple as they recorded the win.

Iona then went on to face Lehigh in its final games before starting its league campaign.

Lehigh was able to register a 5-4 win in its first game against the Gaels.

During the game, two RBI’s from Burke and two runs and two stolen bases from Torres led the Gaels offense.

However, a late rally from Lehigh in the eighth and ninth innings led the Mountain Hawks to the win.

The Gaels were able to finish up their series against Lehigh with a sweep of a doubleheader.

In the first game, Iona was able to score two runs in the 11th inning to win 7-5.

In the first game, Chiaravalloti was able to drive in both senior Nick Rossetti and Burke on an RBI triple in the 11th inning before senior Sean Darsee was able to record his first collegiate win with a perfect bottom half of the frame.

In the nightcap of the doubleheader, the Gaels were able to win 11-9 thanks to a massive six-run eighth inning to record the victory.

The Gaels were led in large part by a four RBI game by Griffin, along with multiple RBI games from Burke, Charron and Rossetti.