Live Stats

Utica, NY (4-24-14) – The Utica College baseball team welcomes Empire 8 rival Stevens Institute of Technology Sunday for the first of back-to-back doubleheaders … The Pioneers will honor their five seniors Sunday afternoon before the 12 p.m. first pitch … The league rivals are slated to play four games in two days as both twin bills will start at noon, weather pending.

The Pioneer Nine: UC surpassed last year's season win total (6-28) with a gracious split Thursday against SUNY Canton … After a dominating, 17-3, game one victory, Utica gave away game two, 11-7, after allowing nine runs in the top of the seventh … Utica, now 7-15 overall, is still in search of its first win in the E8 under Coach Milazzo and has six battles remaining on the closing schedule …. With eight games remaining on the calendar (four doubleheaders), the Pioneers need four victories to eclipse its program win total in a single season over the last eight years … The 2012 Pioneers went 10-29 which marked the most wins since the 1998 squad posted a 13-22 season ledger.

Pioneers Give Away the Sweep: After routing the visitors by 14 runs in game one, UC fell behind the Kangaroos in game two, trailing 2-0 at the midway point …The Pioneer offense finally woke up late in the contest with seven runs, over two innings, to manage a five-run lead, 7-2, headed into the final frame … SUNY, however, did not pack it in as it worked an impressive eight hit top of the seventh to earn the twilight split.
 
Sophomore Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS) tossed his fourth complete gem of the year as he evened his season mark at 2-2 with seven innings of work allowing just three runs while fanning 11 Kangaroos … Webb walked just one batter while granting just one hit per inning, seven total, in the game one victory.

The Pioneers jumped out to a commanding 11-0 cushion through the first four innings scoring six in the second, two in the third and three in the fourth on 12 hits and three Canton errors ... The visitors finally got on the board in the fifth with three scores on six knocks and the help of a Pioneer mishap to make it an eight run contest, 11-3 … However, that's as close as the Roo's would get as UC scampered another sixth run inning, in the sixth, to close out a convincing 14-run effort beating SUNY, 17-3, to eclipse last year's season win total (6-28) moving to seven season victories.

Pexton rattled off a 4-for-5 performance at the plate while driving in three runs and crossing the dish four times in the win … Junior first baseman Ryan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) racked up three hits to go along with his two stolen bases, two RBI and two runs scored ... Junior Vincent Burillo (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central ) and classmate Benjamin Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Clinton) combined for four hits, four runs scored and three RBI while senior Alec Choleva (Coventry, CT/East Catholic) added three RBI and one run scored on two hits ... Sophomore designated hitter Matthew DeMartino (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) chipped in with a two-run triple and one score while senior shortstop Rob Heath (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore) drove in two runs and also scored twice.

SUNY took the first lead of game two as it edged a slight 2-0 advantage into the midway point … The Roo's worked one run in the second and another in the third and led 2-0 headed into the fourth frame ... UC answered in the bottom of the fifth, taking the lead, with five scores on four hits and two Canton errors to manage a three run cushion, 5-2. ... The Pioneers added two more insurance runs in the sixth and cushioned a 7-2 advantage with just three outs left to finish the sweep ... The visiting Kangaroos did not cower, however, as they put together a nine-run seventh inning on eight hits to battle back earning the afternoon split.

Everyday Leaders Rank Top in the Conference: Junior backstop Thomas Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) remains the E8 leader in homeruns (four) while third in slugging percentage (.577%) … Classmate Ryan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) is tied for second in RBI with 28 while sophomore leadoff Adam Pexton (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) worked his way into sixth in the league with a.360 batting average.
 
Closing Campaign: Following the series with the Ducks, UC returns to the diamond Wednesday April 30^th for a non-conference twin bill against Keuka College on the road … The midweek pair is set to start at 2 p.m.