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Staten Island, NY - Iona scored five runs in the sixth inning to break open what was a close game, before holding off a late-charging Wagner squad by an 11-7 count in the second game of a doubleheader at Richmond County Bank Ballpark. With the win, the Gaels improve to 15-23 while the Seahawks have their three-game winning streak snapped in falling to 17-24.

The Green & White had its chances, but stranded 11 runners and hit just .188 (3-for-16) with runners in scoring position while committing three errors that led to three unearned runs.

Iona opened the scoring on Michael Chiaravalloti's RBI single in the first inning, only to have Wagner answer with a run in the bottom of the second inning when graduate student Bill Murphy (Cranford, NJ / Roselle Catholic / Rutgers) was plunked with the bases loaded.

The Gaels broke the tie in the top of the third on Chris Burke's three-run round-tripper.

In the bottom of the third, the Seahawks responded with a run but the damage could have been greater. Freshman Nick Dini (Monroe Township, NJ / Monroe Township) led off with a single, before coming around to score on a wild pitch to cut the deficit to 4-2. Later in the frame with the bases loaded and one out, Iona LHP John Nargoski induced a 1-2-3 double play to evade further trouble.

After allowing Burke's three-run home run, Green & White starting pitcher Ryan Casey (Paramus, NJ / St. Joseph Regional) settled down and retired the next eight batters in order.

Wagner continued to chip away and scored another run to cut the lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning. Senior Eddie Brown's (Edison, NJ / St. Joseph (Metuchen) / Seton Hall) plated sophomore Ian Miller (Downingtown, PA / Bishop Shanahan) with a run-scoring double to left field.

Iona answered with five runs while sending 10 batters to the plate in the top of the sixth inning while knocking Casey from the game.

The never-say-die Seahawks would not go away, responding with four runs in their half of the sixth. Murphy battled back from a 0-2 count to draw a walk, before Brown crushed a Derrick Bligh offering deep over the left field fence for a two-run blast. Later in the inning with two outs and juniors Jayson Keel (Starkville, MS / Starkville / Holmes CC) and Nick Alfano (Coral Springs, FL / North Broward Prep) at first-and-second, senior Tommy Higgins crushed a 2-2 offering over the left fielder's head for a two-run double that cut the score to 9-7. Unfortunately, the Green & White would get no closer as Tom Kriss entered and got the final out of the frame.

The Gaels added two runs in the top of the seventh inning, before Kriss retired the side in order in the bottom part of the frame for his fourth save of the year.

Bligh (3-2) earned the win, yielding five runs in 2.2 innings of relief while Casey (3-3) took the loss, surrendering seven runs over 5.1 innings.

Brown led Wagner at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double, home run and three RBI while Higgins went 3-for-3 with two RBI, a double and a walk and recorded five hits and a walk in his six plate appearances in today's doubleheader. With his performance, Higgins moved into a tie for 11th place (166) on the all-time Seahawk hits list with former Atlanta Brave farmhand Joe Francisco and former teammate Chris Drechsel.

Also recording three hits in the second game was Alfano, who finished 3-for-4 with a pair of runs. Rounding out the top performers was Miller, who notched his team-leading 15th multi-hit game of the year, finishing up 2-for-4 with a run.

Burke paced Iona, going 2-for-3 with a home run, three runs and three RBI.

The Seahawks will look to capture the series in tomorrow's series-finale with first pitch at the stadium slated for 1:00 pm.