Trevor Dugan
The University at Albany baseball team continued their dominant start to the season this weekend, sweeping Iona College in a three-game series and pushing their win streak to eight games. Their record now stands at 8-3.
On Saturday the Great Danes played two with Iona. In the first game, Albany jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning and stayed ahead, winning by a score of 12-1. Starting pitcher Ray Weber did his part, going seven innings and allowing just one run while striking out five. Outfielder Jason Bottari led the way on offense, he went 3-5 with five RBIs and two doubles. Infielder Will Binder also contributed to the offensive onslaught, driving in three runs. Iona had no answer for the Great Danes’ bats in game one.
In game two of Saturday’s doubleheader, it was more of the same from Albany’s offense. The Great Danes stayed hot and plated eight runs, defeating Iona 8-0. Once again, they got an early lead in the first inning, scoring on an HBP and then again on a single by Carson Dunkel. Anthony Germinerio was the winning pitcher for the Danes, tossing seven shutout innings while allowing just three hits. Infielder Will Feil had a good day at the plate, going 2-4 with three RBIs and one walk. Bottari, Dunkel, and Michael Whalen all had an RBI apiece.
The two schools played the third game of their series on Sunday, and it was another dominant showing for Albany. For the third straight game, they scored multiple times in the first inning. They scored a total of eight first-inning runs in the series. Albany would later explode for six runs in the ninth inning. The final was an 11-1 Albany victory. Infielder Brad Malm was the only Great Dane with multiple hits in this one, going 2-5 with a double and two RBIs. Bottari continued to drive in runs, hitting a two-run shot in the sixth to pad the Albany lead. Connor Eisenmann was brilliant on the bump, pitching seven shutout innings while tallying seven Ks on the way to the win.
Albany baseball will be back in action on Tuesday as they travel to New Britain, Connecticut to take on Central Connecticut State University