UTICA, NY – The Utica College baseball team is set to host Elmira College in Empire 8 Conference action on Friday at the UC Baseball Field.  The Pioneers will open up at 2 p.m. with the continuation of the halted game from April 2^nd.  The nine inning contest will begin in the top of the 6^th inning with the Pioneers trailing, 10-5.  Game two is also a nine inning contest.

Recap the Halted Game: Utica's Alex Rocci (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) got the start but only went one inning for the Pioneers, giving up seven hits and eight runs (seven earned) while walking two and striking out two … Dom Caccioppoli (Circleville, NY/Pine Bush ) pitched four innings allowing three hits and two unearned runs while striking out two ... Freshman catcher Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) is leading the offense going 3-for-3 with one RBI … Conor Bawiec got the start for Elmira and pitched five innings giving up 11 hits and five runs while striking out six ... Cameron Heggie leads the Soaring Eagle offense with one hit and three RBIs … Elmira used a six run first inning and a two run second inning to jump out to an 8-0 lead … Utica got two back in the home half of the second to make it 8-2 … UC started chipping away at the lead with a run in the third and two runs in the fourth to make it 8-5 … In the last inning of play before the game halted due to darkness, Elmira tacked on two runs to take a 10-5 advantage.

Conference Tournament: UC currently sits in fourth place in the conference with 12 points and three Empire 8 contests remaining on their schedule … A sweep of Elmira on Friday will secure the Pioneers 16 points and a spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament … This year's tournament is the first year that only the top four teams qualify for the tournament … The top seed in the conference tournament will have hosting rights to the tournament … St. John Fisher currently sits in first place with a 13-1 record in the Empire 8. 

Coming on Strong: UC is currently 8-19-1 overall but has come on strong as of late …UC is 4-2-1 in its last seven games … In their last eight games the Pioneers have four wins, one tie and two one run losses … Six of the Pioneers eight wins this season have come in Empire 8 Conference play. 

Leading the E8: UC freshman Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) currently leads the Empire 8 with a .432 batting average … He has 32 hits in 74 at bats this season to go along with a team-high 23 RBIs, 13 runs scored, eight doubles, two triples and two home runs … He has 20 hits in his last ten games.

On The Mound: Senior Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS), a two-time all-conference selection, has once again been the Pioneers number one option on the mound … Over the course of his career he has appeared in 35 games and started 28 while pitching in 171.2 innings … He is the program's active leader with 176 career strikeouts … Webb currently ranks ninth in the Empire 8 with a 3.86 earned run average and has a team-best 38 strike outs.

Mr. Consistency: JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) has provided consistency at the plate all season for the Pioneers … He currently ranks12th in the Empire 8 with a batting average of .345 … He leads the team in total hits with 39 and ranks second on the team with 22 RBIs.

Utility Man: Senior Vincent Burillo (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central ) has done a little bit of everything for the Pioneers this season … He currently ranks third on the team with a .343 batting average … He has a total of 34 hits, 14 RBIs and 11 runs scored … He also has 179 put outs at first base and a 1-3 record on the mound to go along with one save.

.300 Club: Bryce Patterson (Corning, NY/Corning East) is one of four players batting over .300 for the Pioneers this season … He has 16 hits, nine runs scored and eight RBIs to go along with five stolen bases. 

Scouting Elmira: The Soaring Eagles are currently 10-20 on the season and 2-9 in the conference… They are coming off an 8-7 extra inning loss to Alfred State on Thursday… Elmira is led by sophomore Conor Bawiec, who is batting .420 and has 20 RBIs… Utica is 4-0 all-time against Elmira, including an 11-10 win over the Soaring Eagles earlier this season.

Looking Ahead: Next up, Utica will travel to Hilbert College on Tuesday for a non-conference match up.  Game time is scheduled for 4 p.m.