May 16, 2003
Final Stats
New Rochelle, NY - The Iona College baseball team lost both ends of a doubleheader to Marist College Friday afternoon at J.B. Buono Field. The Red Foxes pulled out a 6-3 win in extra innings in the opener before posting a 13-1 victory in game two. The Gaels fell to 21-24 on the year, 15-11 in MAAC play, while Marist improved to 30-18-1 overall and 19-8 against league opponents.
Iona's game one starter, Ryan Sullivan (Bronx, NY), got into trouble in the first inning as the Red Foxes loaded the bases with no outs, but the senior allowed just one run as the inning ended with a play at the plate to end the threat.
Sullivan and Marist starter Chris Tracz then traded zeroes until the bottom of the fifth, when the Gaels tied the score on sacrifice fly from Travis Garcia (Bronx, NY) that scored Rob Michitsch (Glendale, NY), who led off the frame with a single.
The teams then traded single runs in the sixth, and the 2-2 tie stuck until the tenth inning, when the Red Foxes plated four runs off the combination of Iona relievers Sean Kramer (New Windsor, NY) and Rob Vaughn (Peekskill, NY).
The Gaels got one back in the bottom of the tenth, but Marist reliever Chris Homer retired the side to preserve the win. Tracz got the win as his record moved to 8-2. Kramer was tagged with the loss as he fell to 3-5.
The day's second game also began as a tight contest, with the Red Foxes squeezing out a 1-0 lead through four innings off starter Chris Lopez (New Rochelle, NY). Marist pushed it to 3-0 in the fifth on a two-run single by Tim Allen.
Iona made it 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth as Matt Callahan (Cornwall, NY) delivered a two-out RBI single.
But the Red Foxes put the game out of reach with two runs in the eighth and eight more in the ninth to earn the doubleheader sweep. Marist's Chuck Bechtel (8-3) threw five scoreless innings to get the win and Ryan Kondratowicz pitched the final four frames to pick up his first save.
Lopez took the loss as his record dropped to 5-2.
The Red Foxes secured the #2 seed in next week's MAAC Tournament, while the Gaels await the rest of the MAAC scores to determine their playoff fate. This year's tournament is scheduled for May 22 - 24 at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, NY.
