SUNYIT 7, Utica 3 - Game One Box Score

SUNYIT 4, Utica 1 - Game Two Box Score

Utica, NY - The Utica College baseball team lost two games Thursday afternoon to cross-town rival SUNYIT in a non-conference double header at Delutis Field in Rome, NY. The Pioneers lost the first game 7-3 and fell 4-1 in the second game. UC falls to 1-14 on the season while the Wildcats improve to 13-9 overall.

In game one, UC opened up with two runs in the top of the first inning. Sophomore Chris Podlucky (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) singled, advanced to second and then scored on first baseman Adam Bittel (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern Region)'s single to right center. Freshman Alec Choleva (Coventry, CT/East Catholic) also scored on a throwing error to make the score 2-0. SUNYIT answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the score at 2-2. The Wildcats went on to score five more runs over the course of the next three innings to take a 7-2 advantage. Utica managed to score a run in the top of the seventh, however, fell short as SUNY recorded its 12 victory of the season. Freshman pitcher Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) pitched six innings and gave up six earned runs on eight hits while striking out two batters.

In the second game, the Wildcats took an early 1-0 lead before UC tied the game in the top of the second, 1-1. Sophomore Angel Zapata (Bronx, NY/Bronx Center for Science and Math) singled then stole second and eventually scored off a single from sophomore Nick Dunbar (Granville, NY/Granville) to left field. SUNYIT followed up with two more runs and regained the lead, 3-1. After two scoreless innings by both teams, the Wildcats tacked on one more run in the bottom of the fifth and went on the win 4-1. Senior pitcher Sean Fisher (Walton, NY/Walton Central) threw 4.2 innings allowing four earned runs on five hits, four walks while recording three strikeouts.

The Pioneers open up Empire 8 Conference play Saturday as they travel to Rochester, NY to challenge St. John Fisher. The double headers are scheduled to start at 1 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.