Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NIAGARA UNIV., N.Y. – The Purple Eagles improved to 5-0 at home this season with 7-2 and 4-3 wins over Iona Saturday afternoon at Bobo Field. 
 
“I like where this team is at,” head coach Rob McCoy said.  “Our pitching is starting to come together and anytime that happens it gives us a chance to win.  Although out defense isn’t where we want it to be, the guys keep grinding and we’re getting big hits at big times to get it done.”
 
Game One
Iona (3-26, 0-8 MAAC) found itself in a 3-0 hole early and was never able to recover thanks to a strong outing from rookie righthander Kyle Olver.
 
Olver (2-4) sat the Gaels down in order to start the game with a pop-up and two-consecutive swinging strikeouts.  The Niagara (9-19, 5-3 MAAC) offense picked up where its pitcher left off as Greg Rodgers sent a double to left-center to bring in Ryan McCauley and Christian Vangeison,  who singled back-to-back.  Rodgers stole third and scored after Kevin Paulsen forced a throwing error.
 
After another scoreless half-inning from Iona, Thomas Rodrigues singled on a bunt and was brought around by a Michael Fuhrman single to give NU a 4-0 lead.
 
The Gaels finally got on the board in the third, with two outs, and another in the fifth with an RBI-single to cut the deficit in half 4-2.  That was all the offense they would muster as Olver faced just three batters in the sixth, seventh, and eighth innings with just four in the ninth after allowing a lead-off walk.
 
The Purple Eagles extended their lead in the bottom of the inning with an Evan Wexler SAC-fly and a bases-loaded walk from Rodrigues.  They added one more in the eighth, a RBI-single from Joel Klock, to bring the lead to 7-2.
 
Olver went the distance on the mound, pitching all nine innings.  He gave up five hits and two runs, niehter of which were earned, with three walks and eight strikeouts.  Both Fuhrman and Rodrigues had a multi-hit game with 2-for-5 and 2-for-3 days, respectively.  Both had a RBI with Rodrigues adding a walk and two runs scored. 
 
Game Two
In the second game it was Niagara that started out in a hole as Iona collected a pair of RBI-singles to take a 2-0 lead in the top-half of the first.  NU clawed its way back as it scored the next four runs over the next five innings, starting in their half of the first.  McCauley doubled with two-outs and scored when Pavel Chavez-Rusova followed up with a single to center field to cut the deficit in half, 2-1.
 
The game was tied 2-2 after the third as Klock dounled down the left field line to scoreLogan Linder.  The same combination gave the Purple Eagles their first lead in the fifth as Klock hit a SAC-fly to center and Linder scored his second run of the game.  The winning run was brought in later in the inning as Rodgers drew a bases-loaded walk to give NU the 4-2 lead. 
 
Jordan Schwartz (2-2) got the start and the win for the Purple Eagles.  After giving up the two runs in the first, the sophomore shut the door for the next four innings and faced four batters or less in the third, fourth, and fifth.  The Gaels finally broke through again in the sixth to cut the lead to a run, 4-3, but Geoff Soja threw the final 1.2 innings, striking out three and getting the save. 
 
Schwartz finished with seven hits and three runs over 5.1 innings.  Linder went 2-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored and Klock had a game-high two RBIs.
 
These two teams are back at Bobo tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for noon.  With a win, the Purple Eagles can match the 2006 team that opened the home schedule with six-consecutive MAAC wins.