NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. - The Marist baseball team suffered a 3-1 loss at Iona in the finale of a three-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series to Iona on Sunday at Salesian High School.
Marist pitchers recorded 11 strikeouts in the game. Starter Chris Bielak (Sayreville, N.J.), who took the loss, struck out six in five innings. He permitted all three of Iona's runs, and fell to 1-3. Sophomore right-hander Kevin McCarthy (Malverne, N.Y.) fanned five in three scoreless and hitless innings of relief.
Iona outhit Marist 8-6. All of the Red Foxes' hits were singles, and junior shortstop Zach Shank (Lititz, Pa.) led the way by going 2-for-4.
Marist scored first in its half of the third. Freshman catcher Mark Swertfager (Katonah, N.Y.) led off the inning with a single, and was sacrificed to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore center fielder Jake Berry (South Hamilton, Mass.). Swertfager then moved up to third on a single by Shank, and scored on a single by senior left fielder Eric Helmrich (Yonkers, N.Y.).
Iona took the lead for good with two runs in the fourth. First baseman Mike Chiaravalloti led off with a home run to tie the score at one. A two-out infield single by center fielder Joe Torres scored Colin Lyall with the Gaels' second run. In the fifth, Iona third baseman Chris Burke led off with a double, and scored on a two-out single by Lyall for the final run of the game.
Iona starter Matt Marley (3-1) got the win, going 7.2 innings, allowing six hits, one walk and one run while striking out five. Thomas Kriss recorded the final four outs for his fifth save of the season.
Marist is now 18-21 overall and 9-8 in the MAAC; Iona improved to 16-27 overall and 6-9 in conference play.
Marist returns to action on Tuesday, when the Red Foxes play a non-conference doubleheader at Brown. Game one is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
