Utica, NY (5/6/14) - The Utica College baseball team will face non-conference opponent Keuka College on Tuesday in Keuka Park, NY. The first pitch is set to start at 2 p.m.

Home Stretch: UC will finish off the season at home with back-to-back games against non-conference opponent Oswego State and Empire 8 conference rival St. John Fisher. The Pioneers will play Oswego State Wednesday and St. John Fisher Thursday at the UC Baseball Field. Both games are scheduled to start at 2 p.m.

Follow The Games Live: Live stats will also be provided by Utica College and fans can also follow the Pioneers on Twitter for live updates: @UCPioneers.

Last Timeout: UC could not fend off visiting Empire 8 rival Stevens Institute of Technology as it lost another late, game one lead … UC fell 9-2 in nine innings in the first game before dropping game two, 7-1, as the Ducks completed the four-game, two-day sweep ..  Junior pitcher Stephen Szatko (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley) tossed eight innings in game one allowing just three runs on three hits ... Senior Alec Choleva (Coventry, CT/East Catholic) led the Pioneers at the plate going 3-for-8 with one run scored ... The Pioneers took a one-run lead, 2-1, in the latter innings of game one however, could not hold on as they gave up the tying run in the fifth before losing in extra innings, 9-2 … Utica allowed seven runs in the top of the ninth … UC's had eight hits in game one with eight different Pioneers each recording one ... In game two, the Ducks worked a four run lead over the first three innings and were never threatened as UC managed just one run in the bottom of third … Choleva and junior Benjamin Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Clinton) guided the Pioneers at the dish as each recorded three hits on the day.

Swingin' A Hot Stick: Junior Ryan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) leads the team in batting average (.346), slugging percentage (.457) and RBI's (24)… He is ranked sixth in the conference in batting average… Teammate Adam Pexton (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is ranked second on the team and 12^th in the E8 in batting average (.330).

Wrapping up the Season: In 26 games this season, the Pioneers are ranked fifth in the conference in batting average (0.257), RBI's (107), slugging percentage (0.345), and home runs (seven) … UC is 7-19 overall.

Empire 8 Weekly Honors: This season four Pioneers were honored by the Empire 8 for their play … Junior Benjamin Hobaica (Clinton, NY/Clinton) was named Player of the Week back on March 17^th and was the only Pioneer to be named Player of the Week this year… Three UC pitchers were named Pitchers of the Week, Alec Choleva (Coventry, CT/East Catholic) (March 17^th), Ryan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) (April 14^th) and Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS) (April 21^st).  

Senior Class: Thursday will be the final home game for the five graduating Pioneers… The senior class is comprised of Alec Choleva (Coventry, CT/East Catholic), Chris Jeffers (Albany, NY/Bishop Maginn), Cam Andrews (Bangor, PA/Bangor), Rob Heath (Central Square, NY/Paul V. Moore), and Donato Traditi (Lagrangeville, NY/Arlington).  

Scouting Keuka: The Storm are 21-11 overall, 10-1 at home and 12-6 in the NEAC conference… They are coming off a three game home winning streak to conference opponent Penn St.-Berks and have won eight of their last 10 games… Keuka is led by Jon Borchert who ranks first on his team in at bats (112), putouts (203) and second in plate appearances (130) and slugging percentage (.643)… In 32 games this season, the team has 237 runs, a batting average of .311, an on base percentage of .393, a slugging percentage of .423 and seven home runs… The Storm are headed to post season play on Friday as they face Penn St.-Berks at the NEAC Tournament at Gallaudet in Washington, D.C… Last season, UC split games with Keuka, losing 6-5 in the first game and then winning 9-7 in the second game at home.     

Scouting the Lakers: The Oswego State Lakers are 20-12 overall and finished 10-8 in the SUNYAC conference… Oswego is coming off a 3-2 loss to Brockport on Sunday in the 2014 SUNYAC Championship, finishing third in the conference tournament… The Lakers are led by senior Scott Buiak… Buiak leads the team in batting average (.374), slugging percentage (.470) and fielding percentage (.988) … They head to RIT on Saturday and Ithaca College on Sunday to finish off the regular season… Last season, UC lost both games at Oswego (6-1 and 4-2).  

Scouting the Cardinals: The Cardinals are 27-10 overall and 7-7 in the Empire 8 conference… They are coming to UC after a 6-5 road win against non-conference opponent Rochester Institute of Technology… St. John Fisher is led by senior Nick Flemister who is ranked first in the conference in batting average (.435), at bats (138) and slugging percentage (.652)… As a team, they are ranked first in the conference in batting… Last season UC lost all four games to the Cardinals in Rochester.