McCann-led Iona Defeats Marist, 6-2
MAAC Sports
FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Rightfielder Eileen McCann had two hits, drove in two runs and scored twice to lead No. 3 seed Iona College to a 6-2 victory over No. 1 seed Marist on Friday in the 2014 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Softball Championship at Alumni Stadium on the Fairfield University campus.
McCann, the reigning MAAC “Player of the Year” and the leading hitter in the league during the regular season with a .400 batting average, hit a two-run single and later scored to spark Iona’s four-run second inning. McCann also walked to load the bases and came across with Iona’s sixth run in the bottom of the sixth when the Gaels added two insurance runs.
Iona’s junior right Carly Argyle threw six strong innings, scattering four hits and striking out four to raise her record to 14-8. Argyle helped her own cause at the plate, rapping two hits and scoring a run. Sophomore Jordan Courage came in to throw an inning of scoreless relief in the seventh.
The Gaels scored four runs in the bottom of the second on three hits and benefitted from two Marist errors. Iona loaded the bases for McCann, who responded with a sharp single to right to drive in a pair of runs. A third Iona run scored on a throwing error by the right fielder, as McCann advanced to second. Kristen Turner, the MAAC Rookie of the Year, then ripped a double to drive in McCann with the Gaels’ fourth run of the inning.
Marist cut the Gaels’ lead in half in the top of the sixth when Rebecca Freeman delivered a two-out single to left field that scored two runs. Argyle struggled in the inning when she loaded the bases on a walk, hit batsman and single, but got out further damage with an inning-ending strikeout.
Iona got the two runs back in bottom half of the sixth benefitting from a Marist throwing error and wild pitch. After the Gaels loaded the bases, Kelsey Long, who had singled earlier in the inning, scored on a throwing error. McCann, who walked to load the bases, later came across on a wild pitch.
Long scored two runs for the Gaels (23-21), while Allison Hand added two hits.
Freeman had two hits for the defending MAAC Champion Red Foxes, who fell to 27-23.