NIAGARA UNIV.,  N.Y. – The Niagara softball team halted its five-game skid with a sweep of the Iona Gaels, 2-1 and 9-8, on Monday en route to its first home and conference wins of the season.

After dropping their conference and home opening doubleheader on Sunday, the Purple Eagles (10-15, 2-2 MAAC) responded by edging Iona (10-16, 4-2 MAAC) in a doubleheader on Monday.

"These were great character wins for the team today," head coach Larry Puzan said. "It would have been easy to give in so this is a big step for our team."

Iona 1, Niagara 2

Jennifer Sansano had two solid pitching performances today. The senior from Clarence, N.Y. pitched both games of the doubleheader to improve to 8-3 on the season and helped shut down the Gaels in game one.
Iona scored its only run of the game in the first inning when Allison Hand hit a solo home run to left field on the second pitch of the game. However after allowing that homer, Sansano allowed just two hits and kept the Gaels off the scoreboard for the rest of the game.

Opportunistic base running by the Purple Eagles in the second inning led to their two runs of the game which turned out to be game-winning runs. Katelyn Gruarin struck out with the bases loaded, but a passed ball allowed Theresa Fleckenstein to score from third while Taylor Huenink scored on a throwing error by the catcher on the same play.  

Iona 8, Niagara 9  

The Purple Eagles outlasted the Gaels in an entertaining, back-and-forth affair in game two played in cold, rainy conditions.

Niagara scored a run in eight of the nine innings, but had to rally on three different occasions including in the final inning to pull out the win.

Desarae Maldonado got things started with a two-run double in first inning before Iona hit the first of four home runs in the game in the second inning, a two-shot shot by Sarah Schutz to tie the game at 2-2. NU went back in front in the bottom of the second with a solo home run by Ambur Farmer. The third homer of the game came in the following inning which saw the Gaels take a 5-3 lead on a three-run home run by Sydney Simon.

NU would score one run in the third, fourth and fifth innings to regain the lead at 6-5. Two errors by Iona led to one run in third, while Bridget Hogan and Theresa Fleckenstein both drove home a run in the fourth and fifth innings, respectively.
The Gaels responded with a two-run sixth inning to go back in front, 7-6, but NU tied the score in its half of the inning on a homer by Hogan, who went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs.

The contest went into extra innings after a rare scoreless inning by both teams in the seventh inning. Iona's Katie Jansson hit the game's fourth and final home run to give the Gaels an 8-7 lead in the eighth inning.  

Niagara needed to score at least one run to extend the game. Maldonado collected her third RBI of the game on a sacrifice fly to score Katelyn Gruarin from third to tie the game at 8-8. Two batters later with two outs, Farmer hit a deep ball to centerfield, which was dropped by the centerfielder as Ali VanGiesen scored the game-winning run.  

Niagara will play at Big Four rival Buffalo on Wednesday at 3 p.m.