Utica, NY- The Utica College baseball team is set for its home opener Wednesday as it hosts cross town rival, SUNY Poly.  Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m. at the UC baseball field. 
 
Last Time Out: The Pioneers are coming off a tough weekend where they were swept in a four game series against St. John Fisher… On Saturday the Pioneers lost game one of the doubleheader 4-1, and game two 15-8… On Sunday Utica lost both games 26-4, and 2-1…The fourth and final game of the series was the most competitive as it went to extra innings and was won by Fisher in walk off fashion, 2-1.
 
Watson the Duel Threat: Senior Ryan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) is having an excellent season on both the mound and at the plate… He has pitched 25.0 innings, boasting a 2.16 ERA and a 1-1 record… Watson has also made one save and struck out 15 batters… On offense, he has come to bat 54 times and leads the team with a .333 average… He has 18 hits and drove in 10 runs while walking eight times … Watson is riding the highs of a six game hitting streak.
 
On The Mound: Pitching in general has been a strong point for Utica this season… Of the six Pioneers that have pitched at least seven innings, four have an ERA of 2.30 or better… Junior Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS) leads the team with 34.0 innings pitched, a 1.85 ERA and 44 strike outs.
 
.300 Club: The Pioneers have five players who have a batting average over .300 with at least 15 at bats…The team is led by Ryan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) (.333), who has 18 hits in 54 at bats including a double, a triple, and a homerun…Next up is Brandon Thomas (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) (.311) who has 14 hits off of 45 at bats including three doubles…Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston) (.308) is in third for the Pioneers with eight hits off of  26 at bats including one triple…Adam Pexton (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) (.306) has 15 hits in 49 at bats and is tied for first on the team with four doubles…Finally for the Pioneers Ryon Lupia (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) (.304) has seven hits in 23 at bats including one double.
 
Impact First Year Pioneers: Transfer Brandon Thomas (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) has the second highest batting average on the team while knocking in five runs and scoring four times himself…Thomas has four hits in the last five games and has scored all four of his runs in that time period…Andrew Hobika Jr. is a freshman with a .235 batting average…Hobika Jr. has knocked in nine runs while scoring three himself.
 
Catching Up On Dinnen: Thomas Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) has started 17 games so far this season for the Pioneers…He has a batting average of .270 and has had hits in seven of the last eight games…Dinnen has 17 hits, 10 RBIs, a run scored, and is tied for the team lead with four doubles…While in the field he has a fielding percentage of .991 which ranks him in the top 10 in the Empire 8 conference.
 
UC & SUNY Poly Stats: Utica College has a team batting average of .256 while allowing opponents a .293 batting average…UC has scored 90 runs, hit three homeruns, has 67 RBIs, and on the mound the team has an ERA of 4.36…SUNY Poly has a team batting average of .322 while allowing opponents a .336 batting average…SUNY Poly has scored 97 runs, hit two homeruns, has 83 RBIs, and on the mound the team has an era of 7.76.
 
Against SUNY Poly: The Pioneers own a 14-13 record against the Wildcats since 1993… UC last played SUNY Poly on Wednesday April 17, 2013 on the road... Utica won game one 5-3, while the Wildcats bounced back in Game 2, winning 6-0.
 
Scouting SUNY Poly: The Wildcats are 7-8 overall and 3-1 in NEAC play… SUNY Poly is coming off of a weekend road trip to Gallaudet and Lancaster Bible… The Wildcats swept Gallaudet by a total score of 9-6, and split with Lancaster Bible, earning an 18-0 victory in game two. 
 
Up Next: Utica will turn right around and travel to Cazenovia College on Thursday for a 4 p.m. tilt.