NEW ROCHELLE, NY — The Iona College softball program was unable to climb out of an early deficit on Tuesday afternoon, falling to the Stony Brook Seawolves in its final non-conference game of the 2017 spring season, 7-4. In the defeat, senior first basemen Kristen Turner took another step climbing the Gael record book.
Stony Brook hopped out to an early lead in the bottom of the second inning. Freshman Allyssa Maloney led off with a double and advanced to third on a wild pitch. She scored on a two RBI single from junior Ileana Torres; the second Seawolves run came courtesy of freshman Jordyn Nowakowski reaching base on a fielding miscue. Two more early runs crossed the and after two innings the Maroon & Gold trailed 4-0.
Turner ensured the Gaels a quick bounce back top of the third with her program record tying 39th career double. Her two-bagger scored senior left fielder Ashlyn Morris and freshman right fielder Marisa Gergel and cut the early deficit in half. The Gaels would load the bases with nobody out, but sophomore Stony Brook hurler Lindsey Hughes escaped danger with no further harm.
Senior Lexie Shue led off the bottom of the third and advanced to second on a second Iona fielding error. She’d cross the plate on a RBI double by Maloney.
Junior Jessica Harkness retired her first leadoff hitter of the day in the fourth, but back-to-back one out hits by Torres and freshman Melissa Rahrich put runners on second and third and forced a Maroon & Gold pitching change.
Harkness’s final line was 3.1 innings, seven runs, six earned runs, three walks, nine hits and no strikeouts. The Seawolves brought the bats against the lefty, connecting for four doubles, three of which led off innings.
Sophomore Alana Evans came in relief of Harkness and allowed one inherited runner to score. She finished with a personal line of 2.2 innings, one hit allowed, no earned runs charged, and three total strikeouts.
In their final at-bat, Iona tagged on a pair of runs and brought the tying run to the plate. Sophomores Kimberly Chiapparelli and Hailey Thompson were both retired with senior Katie Newton and Junior Tori Danner stranded in scoring position.
Turner and Danner combined for five of the Gels nine hits and three total RBI. Freshman designated player Jasmine Temple had the remaining run batted in. The team drew three walks and struck out five times.
The Maroon & Gold are battling against MAAC opponents for the remainder of the regular season. They welcome Quinnipiac to Donald E. Walsh field on Saturday, Apr. 22 for a pair of games, and the following day Fairfield makes its way to New Rochelle.