Utica, NY (3-12-13) – The Utica College baseball team departs for its spring trip this weekend as the squad journeys to Estero, Florida for the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic in Lee County ... The Pioneers are scheduled to play eight games in six days against five different opponents.

UC's Florida Game Schedule: Utica will kick off the classic on Sunday, Mar. 17th against the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh for a single-game set for 1 p.m. … The following day, on Monday, Mar. 18th, UC will square off against the University of Wisconsin-Stout in an afternoon double header set for 10 a.m.  … Then, on Tuesday Mar. 18th, the squad will play two 9-inning games versus Lawrence University (10 a.m.) and Polytechnic Institute of New York University (1 p.m.) … After a mid-week day off on Wednesday, the team returns to face Lasell University in a doubleheader on Thursday, Mar. 21st with first-pitch set for 10 a.m. … The final day, Friday, Mar. 22nd, the Pioneers will battle UW-Oshkosh again for a single contest set for 10 a.m.

Opening Weekend Canceled/Postponed: UC had opening weekend cancelled and postponed due to inclement weather conditions … Utica was scheduled to play William Paterson University on Saturday which was canceled followed by John Jay College of Criminal Justice on Sunday.

Returning Stars: Despite losing four players to graduation, Utica returns its' two elite players including senior first baseman Nick Dunbar (Granville, NY/Granville) and junior utility Alec Choleva (Coventry, CT/East Catholic) ...  Dunbar and Choleva were the only two to compete in all 40
games last year … Dunbar, who started in 39-of-40 games, led the Pioneers in batting average (.356), hits (48), RBI (37), doubles (nine) and homeruns (four) while second in runs scored (24) … Choleva, who was the only Pioneer to start in all 40 games, did it all for UC whether in the outfield or on the hill ... While leading the team in at bats (136) and runs scored (26), he also finished second in hits (37) and RBI (24), third in average (.272) and also cracked two homers … Both smacked four triples as well.

2nd-Year Players Strive: UC returns four  sophomore standouts to the roster including Vincent Burillo (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central ), Nick Perkins (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady), Benjamin Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Clinton) and Thomas Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) who are all projected to have solid campaigns … Burrillo looks to pick up where he left off before his season ending ankle injury … In 15 games last season, he tallied 15 hits, seven runs scored, four RBI, and three doubles … Perkins started in 20 games for the Pioneers in his first year and scored 16 runs, tallied 17 hits; seven RBI's while stealing 13 bases … Hobaica, the everyday second baseman, saw the most time out of the freshman class starting in 35-of-40 games while leading the squad with 20 stolen bases  … He also tallied 29 hits, 21 runs, 16 walks, five RBI and four doubles ... Dinnen started in 30 games in his freshman year while recording 18 hits, seven RBI, six runs scored and threw out 11 runners.

On the Mound: The Pioneers bring back two key pitchers with relievers Stephen Szatko (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley) and James Richards (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) returning for their second year ... Szatko threw 31.1 innings and was tied for second on the squad in strikeouts (22) … Richards pitched in 23.2 innings for UC last season where and had the third lowest ERA on the team (6.08).  Also on the mound this year for UC will be veteran pitcher Donato Traditi (Lagrangeville, NY/Arlington) … Last season, Traditi had the second lowest ERA on the team at 4.15 and struck out six batters.
Jack of All Trades: Fourth-year Pioneer Chris Podlucky (Grand Island, NY/Grand Island) started in 38-of-39 games for the UC last season and tallied 31 hits, scored 20 runs and had 11 RBI's … Podlucky also picked up a win on the hill for UC and pitched nine innings while striking out 10 batters on the season ... He was one of four players that received all-conference honors last season where he made the second team … Choleva, named first team and second team all-conference in his first two seasons, is one of the team's best hitters and pitchers …  He pitched 58.9 innings last season for the Pioneers and led the team in strike outs (43) while second in wins (two) and balancing the lowest ERA (3.68).

Key Seniors:  Veterans Tyler Young (Latham, NY/Hudson Valley) and Angel Zapata (Bronx, NY/Bronx Center for Science and Math) look to continue their leadership on and off the field this season for the Pioneers ... Young played in 32 games last year for UC, which he tallied 18 hits, scored 17 runs, six RBI's and nine stolen bases ... Zapata started in 19-of-39 games and tallied 14 hits, six runs, 12 RBI's and four stolen bases.

New Comers: The Pioneers bring in eight newcomers this season, four of those players being pitchers as UC looks to have a much deeper bull pen in 2013 … Included are James Corcoran (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville), Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS), William Winsman (Palatine Bridge, NY/Canajoharie) and Joseph Horning (Canajoharie, NY/Canajoharie) … Also making their Pioneer debut this season will be catcher/3rd basemen Riley Kevil (Manchester Center, VT/Burr and Burton Academy), infielder Adam Pexton (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and first basemen Matt Rogers (Frankfort, NY/Frankfort-Schuyler).

Looking Ahead: Following UC's return from Florida, the squad will continue on the road for back-to-back double headers on Mar. 27th and Mar. 30th before its season home opener on Apr. 3rd … UC will travel to Oswego State on Mar. 27th for two games against the Lakers before heading to Buffalo, NY on Mar. 30th to face Medaille College for another afternoon pair … After opening up the season with 15 games away from home, the Pioneers will finally test their newly renovated field against Clarkson University in a twilight doubleheader ... Utica swept CU last season on the road in Potsdam, NY by scores of 6-4 and 4-2.

UC will try to build off its 2012 campaign where it posted an overall record of 10-30 including a 7-1 record in non-conference play to close out its season … The Pioneers marked their best season since 2006 where they noted a 13-22 overall record … Utica was picked fourth in the Empire 8 preseason coaches' poll just ahead of new addition Houghton College.