Elmira, NY- The Utica College baseball team lost a pair of games in its Empire 8 Conference opener at Elmira College on Saturday.  The Pioneers dropped game one 10-4 before falling 6-5 in a heartbreaker in game two.  UC took a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth of game two after a clutch single by Jacob Gaboriault (Colchester, VT/Essex), but the Soaring Eagles rallied with two runs in the bottom half of the ninth inning to earn the walk-off victory.

Utica (4-8, 0-2 Empire 8) returns to the diamond on Sunday to wrap up the three game conference series against the Soaring Eagles at 12 p.m.

Utica's Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) went 4-for-6 on the day and added one RBI, while Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston) added three RBIs on the afternoon. Shortstop Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS) went 4-for-7 at the plate and scored two runs, while JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) tallied two hits and two runs scored over the course of two games for UC.

Elmira 10, Utica 4 – Game One Final
UC jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the first inning of game one behind a sacrifice fly from Quinlan which scored Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston). Elmira responded with eight runs over the course of the next two innings to take an 8-1 advantage.

UC got back on the board in the sixth inning when JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) scored on a wild pitch and Charles McAllister (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) posted a sacrifice fly to score Quinlan.

Elmira had the answer again as the Soaring Eagles tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to earn a 10-3 lead.  UC pushed one more run across in the seventh inning but the Pioneers comeback bid fell short in the six run loss.

Quinlan and Ross each posted two hits in game one for Utica. Freshman ace Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) added five strike outs in five innings of work, while Josh Call (Syracuse, NY/Solvay) came on in relief and struck out one.

Elmira 6, Utica 5 – Game Two Final
Elmira's Dennis Rudolph posted a two-out base hit in the bottom of the ninth to spoil the Pioneers chance of a split in game two.  Rudolph's game-winner scored Sam Plaugher from third base to lift the home team to a 6-5 win in game two.

Utica's Tom Carrigan (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) singled in the third inning, scoring JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills), to tie the game up at 1-1 early in the contest. Elmira held a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning until the Pioneers broke out with a three run sixth inning to take their first lead of the day, 4-3.  Adam Nell ( Vernon, NY/VVS) scored on a wild pitch and Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston) followed with a two-RBI double to give the Pioneers a one run lead.

Elmira scored in the sixth inning to knot the contest at 4-4, before Gaboriault gave UC a 5-4 lead with a single to score Tom Carrigan (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) in the top of the ninth.

Quinlan went 2-for-4 in game two for the Pioneers, while Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS) led UC with a 3-for-4 effort at the plate.

Utica's Alex Rocci (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) surrendered just four earned runs and scattered 12 hits on the mound for the Pioneers. Kolbie Glionna (Hagaman, NY/Amsterdam) came on in relief and pitched 2.2 innings while striking out one.