Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 St. John Fisher 6, Utica 5 (11 innings) - Game Two Box Score

St. John Fisher 7, Utica 0 - Game One Box Score

Rochester, NY (3-31-12) – The Utica College baseball team lost a double header Saturday afternoon to Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher at Dugan Yard (Pittsford, NY).  UC lost game one 7-0 and game two, 6-5, in 11 innings. Freshman Benjamin Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Clinton), of nearby Clinton, NY, registered two hits, one run scored and one stolen base in game two for the Pioneers.

Utica falls to 1-15 overall and 0-2 in the conference while the Cardinals improve to 14-4 on the season and 2-0 in E8 play. The teams square off again Sunday at 1 p.m. for a single game contest at Dugan Field.

Game One

Fisher jumped out to a 4-0 lead, over the first two innings, on five hits and two UC errors.  Freshman pitcher Sean McNeil (Riverside, NJ/) (0-3) threw 4.1 innings allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits for the Pioneers, while Cardinal senior Jason Beaumont (4-1) tossed a complete game, two hit shutout, registering nine strike outs. Junior Chris Podlucky (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) and senior Dan Bittel (New Hartford, CT/Northwestern Region) posted UC's only two hits.

Game Two

The home team took a 3-0 edge, on five hits, over the first two innings before the UC offense got going. 

The Pioneers opened the top of the third with back-to-back hits by freshmen Nick Perkins (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) and Hobaica.  With Perkins and Hobaica on first and third, Utica pulled off a double steal to get on the board.  Sophomore Alec Choleva (Coventry, CT/East Catholic) then ripped a double to right center scoring Hobaica to cut the lead to one run, 3-2. 

With two outs in the fourth, Utica would take its first lead of the afternoon, 4-3, on a sacrifice bunt by Perkins and a Fisher wild pitch. 

After four and a half innings of scoreless play, the Cardinals tied up the contest with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, knotting the contest up, 4-4. 

Utica regained the lead in the top of the 10th scoring a run on a passed ball with the bases loaded.  The Pioneers were held to just one run though as Fisher's Sean Osterman ended the inning with a double play, making a catch in center field and throwing out a runner at home to end the inning.

Again down to their last out, in the bottom of the 10th, Fisher rallied tying the game on a hit batter, walk and game-tying, base hit.  The Cardinals retired the Pioneers in order before loading the bases in the 11th and converting the walk-off hit to sweep UC.

Sophomore Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn) (0-3) went 6.0 innings allowing three earned runs on nine hits and no walks. Freshman Stephen Szatko (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley), of Sauquoit, NY, relieved Jeffers with 2.2 innings of work and allowed one earned run on two hits and a strikeout. Podlucky took the loss as he walked four batters while allowing four hits and two runs in 1.2 innings.

Choleva and Perkins each had one hit, RBI, run scored and stolen base in game two.