An Iona University baseball player was hit in the chest with a baseball at the Bronxville campus during practice on Thursday.

Spokesperson for Iona University Diana Costello said the sophomore was transported to New York Presbyterian in Westchester, He was then later transferred to Weill Cornell in Manhattan where he is right now.

Costello said the varsity player was at practice around 11 a.m. when it happened.

He is breathing on his own.

The team's 38 players gathered for dinner Thursday night as they hoped for a speedy recovery for their teammate.

"Arms around each other, hugging each other, talking about brotherhood, guys standing up and talking about the importance of coming together right now was something really touching to me," said Tom Moran, the deputy director of athletics at Iona University. Moran added that it was a traumatic day for the varsity boys baseball team.

"Obviously a very tough day for them. I think we learned a lot about the culture of our baseball program today and a lot about Iona," Moran said.

Counseling and clergy are available for all students.

"The support services are available, tonight, tomorrow, as long as anybody needs it. We are one community here at Iona. When something like that happens, it affects us all. We want to be together at this moment especially," Costello said.