Utica, NY – The Utica College baseball team lost to St. John Fisher College 9-3 in its Empire 8 Conference regular season finale on Saturday at Murnane Field. The Pioneers are currently tied for fourth place with 12 points (six wins) in the Empire 8 Conference standings with SUNY Canton.  Utica holds the regular season series tiebreaker against Canton and needs Canton to lose against visiting Elmira College on Sunday in order to secure a berth into the Empire 8 Conference Tournament.

Utica's record moved to 8-22-1 overall and 6-12 in Empire 8 play, while St. John Fisher improved to 30-8 overall and 16-1 in conference play.

The Pioneers totaled 11 hits on the afternoon, including a 2-for-4 and two RBI effort from freshman catcher Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame). Freshman Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) went 1-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored on the day, while Vincent Burillo (Montgomery, NY/Valley Central ) went 2-for-5 with one run scored.

Utica senior pitcher Joshua Webb (Verona, NY/VVS) got the start on the mound and struck out five in five innings of work.  Senior William Winsman (Palatine Bridge, NY/Canajoharie) came on in the top of the sixth inning and allowed just two runs on four hits in four innings of work.

Fisher loaded the bases with no outs in the top half of the first and came out of the inning with a 2-0 lead.  Utica came back in the bottom half of the first inning with three runs to take a 3-2 lead.  Quinlan got things started with a single to center field, scoring JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills), to make it a 3-1 game.  Fitzgerald followed that up with a single up the middle, scoring Quinlan and Burillo, to give the Pioneers a one run lead.

Fisher answered back with three runs in the top half of the second to take a 5-3 lead that they would not relinquish. Fisher pitcher Terry Engels improved to 5-1 on the year as he pitched six innings and struck out seven in the victory.

Fisher added two more runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-3 lead and capped the scoring with two more insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning. 

Utica's JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) went 1-for-4 with one run scored on the day, while Matthew DeMartino (Oceanside, NY/Oceanside) added a 2-for-5 effort on the day.  Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS), Bryce Patterson (Corning, NY/Corning East) and Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston) each added a hit for Utica. 

Scott Eisenmenger went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI for Fisher, while Mike Roman also added two hits and two RBIs.  Vic Konstantinovsky added two hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals as well.

The Pioneers return to action on Monday when they host Hamilton College for the 29^th annual Jackie Robinson Game.  Utica currently leads the overall series 16-12 in 28 previous Jackie Robinson games against Hamilton.