Utica, NY – The Utica College baseball team is set to travel to top-ranked and host St. John Fisher College for the first game of the Empire 8 Conference Tournament on Thursday at 11 a.m. 

Earning the No. 4 Seed: UC earned the No. 4 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament by way of winning the regular season series tiebreaker over SUNY Canton … Utica and Canton both finished the regular season with six conference victories, but the Pioneers took the regular season series, 2-1, over Canton to earn the fourth and final seed in the conference tournament … It came down to the last day of conference play and Canton lost to Elmira to help lift the Pioneers into the tournament.

Conference Tournament History:  This year marks the first time in the history of the Empire 8 that the conference tournament will feature the top four seeds … Last year was the first-ever Empire 8 Tournament (hosted by Utica College), but every team in the conference was accepted into the tournament.

Tournament Schedule: The top-seeded Cardinals (31-9, 16-2 Empire 8) will take on No. 4 Utica (8-23-1, 6-12 Empire 8) at 11 a.m. Thursday in the first game of the championship, while No. 2 Stevens Institute of Technology (26-13, 14-4 Empire 8) will face off against No. 3 Ithaca College (24-14, 13-5 Empire 8) at 2:30 p.m. … The teams that lose on Thursday will face each other at 10 a.m. on Friday, followed by both winners from Thursday squaring off at 1 p.m. …The winner from game three will face the loser of game four at 4 p.m. on Friday as well … Saturday will consist of the winner from game four facing the winner of game five at 10 a.m. with the possibility of an "if necessary" game at 1:30 p.m. Tickets for each day are $5, while children 12 and under will be admitted free of charge.

Quinlan Swings a Hot Bat: Utica freshman Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) leads the Empire 8 Conference with a .432 batting average … He has 38 hits this season to go along with a team-high 27 RBIs, eight doubles, three triples, and three home runs … He also leads the E8 with a .693 slugging percentage … He is currently riding a six game hit streak and he has at least two hits in each of his last six games.

Ross is Rollin': Junior transfer JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) has had a consistent first year with the Pioneers and currently ranks second on the team with a .341 batting average … He leads the team with 44 hits and he also has 21 runs scored and 24 RBIs. 

Patterson Movin' Up: Bryce Patterson (Corning, NY/Corning East) has at least one hit in eight of his last nine outings and continues to move up the Pioneers batting average leaderboard … He has a .333 batting average to go along with 11 runs scored, nine RBIs and a team-high six stolen bases … Patterson also ranks second on the team with a .452 on base percentage. 

.300 Club: Utica's Vincent Burillo (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central ), Matthew DeMartino (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) and catcher Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) round out the .300 hitters for the Pioneers … Burillo is batting .331 and ranks second on the team with 29 hits … Burillo also has 17 RBIs … DeMartino has a .308 batting average … He has eight doubles, two home runs and 15 RBIs … Fitzgerald also has a .308 batting average and has scored 14 runs.

Crossing the Plate: Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston) leads the team with 22 runs scored this season … He also has 30 hits, 12 RBIs and five stolen bases.

Jackie Robinson Game MVP: Utica relief pitcher Dom Caccioppoli (Circleville, NY/Pine Bush ) has been a rock out of the bullpen for the Pioneers this season … In 11 appearances he has a team-best 3.86 ERA and he recently won the Jackie Robinson Game MVP against Hamilton after pitching 2.1 scoreless innings and allowing just two hits. 

Ace of the Staff: Senior hurler Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS) ranks second on the team with a 4.60 earned run average and he has a team-best two wins and 45 strikeouts for the Pioneers … His 45 K's are tied for eighth in the E8 …  Over the course of four seasons he has appeared in 37 games and started 30 while pitching in 179.1 innings … He is the program's active leader with 184 career strikeouts

Overall Record: Utica posted an 8-23-1 overall record and a 6-12 mark in E8 play this season …  Five of the Pioneers losses this season came by two runs or less and they also tied Keuka in a game that ended due to darkness.

2016 Empire 8 Tournament Schedule
Host: St. John Fisher College

Thursday, May 12
Game #1         No. 4 Utica vs No. 1 Fisher, 11 am
Game #2         No. 3 Ithaca vs No. 2 Stevens, 2:30 pm

Friday, May 13
Game #3         Loser Game #1 vs Loser Game #2, 10 am
Game #4         Winner Game #1 vs Winner Game #2, 1 pm
Game #5         Winner Game #3 vs Loser Game #4, 4 pm

Saturday, May 14
Game #6         Winner Game #4 vs Winner Game #5, 10 am
Game #7         1:30 pm (If Necessary)

Sunday, May 15 – Rain Date as needed