ONEONTA, NY (April 23, 2009) - The Utica College baseball team (5-18) lost to host Oneonta State (23-10) 10-3 in a non conference contest at Red Dragon Field in Oneonta, NY Wednesday afternoon. The Pioneers were only out hit 14-10, but timely hitting by the Red Dragons led to a 7-1 deficit through six innings of play, and the Pioneers could not battle back as they lost by seven runs.

Andrew Diaz and Jon Meyer each went 2-for-4 at the plate and drove in one run for UC, while freshman Matt Zitt scattered six hits and allowed just three earned runs in 3.2 innings of work on the mound for the Pioneers.

Despite the loss, the Pioneers have won three of their last seven games and they are now 5-18 overall on the year. The Red Dragons, who opened the season winning 11 of their first 12 games, improved to 23-10 overall.

Utica senior left fielder Kelvin Cabrera ripped the first pitch he saw over the left field fence to give UC a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Oneonta scored the equalizer in the bottom half of the second when junior Scott Dubben ripped a single to right field and scored classmate Chris Brady.

Oneonta tacked on six more runs over the course of the next four innings to take a 7-1 lead into the sixth inning.

The Pioneers made a late rally, scoring two runs in the top half of the seventh, but the rally was halted after a Chris Hine line out, and the Pioneers were blanked in the final two innings in the 10-3 loss. Diaz and Meyer each tallied an RBI in the seventh inning for UC.

Freshman Andrew Dexter closed out the final 2.2 innings on the mound for UC, allowing three runs on five hits and he also struck out one batter.

UC returns to action Saturday when they travel to Hoboken, NJ to take on Stevens Institute of Technology on the turf at DeBaun Field. The first pitch Saturday is set for 1 p.m.

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