Most Valuable Players:
Utica College - Anthony Di Salvo (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville) - Junior,Third Baseman
Hamilton College - Daniel Kroening - Junior, Pitcher

UTICA, N.Y. (4-7-10) - Freshman pinch hitter Bryan Martinez-Torres hit a walk-off - two RBI - double to left field in the bottom of the tenth inning to lift Utica College to a thrilling 11-10 win over visiting Hamilton College in the 23rd annual Jackie Robinson Game Wednesday night. The Pioneers allowed two runs in the top of the tenth inning, but responded behind an RBI single from the bat of junior captain Anthony Di Salvo (Washingtonville, NY/Washingtonville), followed by the game-winning double from Martinez-Torres to earn the key non conference victory. DiSalvo finished the day going 4-for-6 at the plate with two RBIs en route to earning Most Valuable Player honors for Utica.

The Pioneers now own a 13-10 advantage in the Jackie Robinson game which is a contest that pits the two local rivals against each other in honor of Robinson – who was the first African American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. The series dates back to 1987 and it marks the fourth one run game in the history of the rivalry.

The Pioneers snapped a three game slide and improved to 4-10 overall headed into Empire 8 Conference play this weekend at Ithaca College. The Continentals have now lost four in a row and dropped to 6-12 on the year.

Hamilton jumped out of the gates hot in the first inning – tacking on three runs quick – behind an RBI single to centerfield from Ken Prindle and a two-RBI double to center field from the bat of senior Alex Augustyn.

UC combined for seven runs in the bottom of the second and third innings to take a 7-3 lead. Senior Adam Keller drove in the Pioneers' lone run of the second inning before the team exploded for six runs in the third. Twin brothers Adam and Dan Bittel (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern Region) combined to drive in three runs to kick start the third inning rally before freshman shortstop Chris Podlucky (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) bunted home the fourth run. Keller added his second RBI of the day to give Utica a 6-3 lead and junior Kevin Oquendo capped the third inning scoring with an RBI single of his own.

Hamilton posted four runs in the top of the eighth inning to take an 8-7 lead. Sam Fuentes drilled an RBI double to left field before Augustyn scored on a fielder's choice to cut the UC lead to 7-6. Wes Mayberry capped the Continental rally with a two-RBI double to give Hamilton a one run lead before Utica closer Robert Amor was able to get the Pioneers out of the inning.

DiSalvo came up big in the bottom of the eighth for UC when he drove in Keller to knot the score at 8-8. Neither team would have any luck in the ninth inning to send the contest into extra frames.

Hamilton's Ken Prindle hit an RBI single in the top of the tenth to score junior Pat Gennaco and the Continentals added another run with a risky double steal which resulted in Sam Choate scoring from third to cushion the lead to 10-8.

DiSalvo stepped up again in the bottom of the tenth and kept the Pioneers' hopes alive with an BRI single before Martinez-Torres hit the game winning double to left center. UC's three runs on three hits in the tenth earned them the key non conference victory.

Keller finished the day with three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs, while Dan Bittel (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern Region) and Podlucky each went 2-for-4 and 2-for-5 at the plate, respectively. UC out hit the visitors 17-10 on the day and ten different Pioneers tallied at least one hit.

Justin Atwood led the way for the Continentals at the plate with three hits and two runs scored, while Mayberry, Prindle, Augustyn and Sam Fuentes each added two RBIs.

Sophomore starting pitcher Nate Sortino struck out three and gave up three runs on four hits in five innings of work for Utica, while Daniel Kroening registered four strikeouts and gave up just one run in 3 and 1/3 innings of middle relief for the Continentals.

Sophomore Andrew Dexter earned the winning decision on the mound for Utica.

UC returns to action Saturday when they travel to regional power and Empire 8 Conference rival Ithaca College for a four-game weekend set. The first contest is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

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