NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. - The Niagara baseball team (9-5 MAAC) completed a doubleheader sweep against Iona (2-9 MAAC) on Saturday at Sal Maglie Stadium. The Purple Eagles took game one, 15-2, before rallying to win game two, 4-3.

Niagara continued to receive quality pitching from its starters. Both Marcus Spaulding (Copenhagen, N.Y.) and Joe Candelmo (Orefield, Pa.) allowed NU to pickup a pair of victories on the afternoon, improving to 3-3 and 2-4 respectively.

The Purple Eagles had the bats working as well, blasting three home runs in game one en route to the 15-2 win. In the second game, Niagara received timely hitting, especially after giving up the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.

"Once again, our pitchers rose to the occasion and came up big in a conference weekend," Niagara head coach Rob McCoy said. "Our guys got hits in big spots and helped us put up enough runs to get a doubleheader sweep."

Spaulding pitched eight innings, allowing one unearned run on six hits. The right-hander struck out 11 batters for the second-straight game while walking only one.

The Purple Eagle offense got a boost from Timothy Cozier (Ajax, Ont.), Jason Cramer (Jackson, N.J.) and Wynton Bernard (Poway, Calif.) who all connected on home runs. Cozier drilled a three-run shot to left field in the second inning, his second of the season, while Cramer's three-run shot clanged off the left-field foul pole in the fifth. Bernard connected on his first career long ball, a two-run blast, in the seventh to center field.

In game two, Candelmo lasted 4.1 innings, allowing three runs, two earned in the win. After allowing a leadoff solo home run in the fourth inning which gave Iona a 3-2 advantage, the Purple Eagle bats regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning.

Bernard led the inning off with a double through the left side, and NU staged a two-out rally. Cramer lined a double to right field, scoring Bernard, while Cozier doubled to the left-field gap on the next pitch to give NU a 4-3 advantage.

Bernard finished the day with four hits, two in each game, three runs and five RBIs. Cozier also had four hits, adding four RBIs in the sweep. Cramer and Matt Lucchesi (San Francisco, Calif.) each had three hits, while Cramer had four RBIs.

"I'm definitely happy with our progress that we are making both mentally and physically," McCoy explained. "This team is capable of doing something special if things align in the proper way."

The Purple Eagles finish the three-game set with Iona on Sunday at noon.