UTICA, NY – The Utica College baseball team dropped two heartbreakers Saturday afternoon to Ithaca College, 9-5 and 10-8, as the Bombers used two late rallies to earn the day one sweep.  The Pioneers were led by senior catcher Thomas Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) who went 5-for-8 with four RBI, two runs scored and a three-run homerun.

UC falls to 12-10 on the season while Ithaca moves its overall mark to 10-9.

The teams turn right back around for another twin bill on Sunday at the UC Baseball Field.  First pitch is set for 12 p.m.

Utica 5, Ithaca 9 – Game One Final

UC jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in its first at bat on three hits.  After a leadoff walk and a single, followed by a Ryan Watson (Deerfield, NY/Whitesboro) sacrifice bunt, Brandon Thomas (West Winfield, NY/Mount Markham) smacked a three-run blast over the center field wall to give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead.

Ithaca answered with one run in the second on two hits and the help of a stolen base to cut the lead to one, 3-1.

Utica got one back in the bottom of the third to regain a three run lead, 4-1, as Thomas Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas ) ripped a RBI single scoring Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston).  Each team added one run in the fifth as the scoreboard showed 5-2 in favor of the Pioneers.

Ithaca came back in the top of the seventh with seven runs on three hits and the aid of two Pioneer errors as it took game one, 9-5.

Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS) tossed seven complete innings striking out seven however was tagged with the loss.  Webb gave up nine runs on nine hits but only four scores were earned.

Dinnen led the UC offense going a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate while Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston) and Bryce Patterson (Corning, NY/Corning East) each added two hits in the loss.

Ithaca's Andrew Sanders improved to 4-3 on the season as he threw 6.2 innings, also striking out seven. Jimmy Wagner grabbed his fourth save of the season on the hill.

Utica 8, Ithaca 10 – Game Two Final

Ithaca opened up the game two scoring with three runs in the top of the second on two hits and two UC errors to take an early 3-0 lead.

The Pioneers got two runs back in the third to cut the lead to one, 3-2.  The fifth inning featured four runs, three by Utica, as the home team edged its first lead of the game, 5-4, at the midway point.

The Pioneers continued their hit bats in the seventh behind Dinnen's long ball.  Dinnen, who had a career day at the plate, blasted a three-run homer to left field to give UC an 8-4 lead.

However, another late rally by the Bombers earned the visitors the day one sweep as IC grabbed one run in the eighth and five in the ninth. Ithaca's Trevor Thompson cracked a three-run homer to left center in the ninth to give the Bomber's the lead and the eventual day one sweep.

Patterson and Watson each chipped in with two hits in game two as Watson added two RBI and one run scored.

Stephen Szatko (Sauquoit, NY/Sauquoit Valley) tossed another complete game going nine innings as he fell to 4-2 on the season.