CLINTON, NY – The Utica College baseball team rallied with a five run fifth inning and tacked on three more runs late in the contest to earn an 8-2 victory at Hamilton College's brand new Loop Road Baseball Field on Thursday afternoon. Utica freshman lefthander Haydn Demers-St. Hilaire (North Lawrence, NY/St. Lawrence Central) threw six innings and struck out six as he picked up his first collegiate victory.

Jacob Gaboriault (Colchester, VT/Essex) went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in one run, while JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) added a 2-for-5 effort, including a two-RBI double in the eighth inning to help the Pioneers' seal the victory.

UC snapped a seven game skid and improved its record to 5-8 overall on the season.   

Hamilton opened up its brand new facility with a bang as Ryan Wolfsberg drilled a home run to left field in the Continentals first at-bat of the contest to make the score 1-0 in favor of the home team.  Demers St.-Hilaire then settled in and only allowed one more run over the course of the next five innings.

Utica's bats broke out in the top of the fifth inning. Adam Nell ( Vernon, NY/VVS) doubled to start the inning and scored on a passed ball to knot the score at 1-1. Brian McGuire (Herkimer, NY/Herkimer) then singled and scored Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS) to give UC a lead they would not relinquish.  Tom Carrigan (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna), Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck), and Jacob Gaboriault (Colchester, VT/Essex) each posted an RBI before the end of the inning to give UC a 5-1 lead. 

Hamilton got one back in the bottom of the sixth, but the Pioneers added three runs down the stretch and Brett Sarnowski (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) pitched three scoreless innings of relief to earn the save for Utica.

Catcher Zachary Schellenger (Schenectady, NY/Schenectady) posted a seventh inning RBI single and JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) added a two-RBI double in the eighth to close out the scoring on the day.

Starting catcher Charles McAllister (Baldwinsville, NY/C.W. Baker) went 1-for-2 on the afternoon before being replaced by Schellenger. Ryan Palmer (Vernon, NY/VVS) took over at shortstop midway through the contest and finished the day with a 1-for-3 effort and one run scored.

Hamilton's record fell to 6-6 overall on the year.

UC returns to the diamond on Saturday when they take on Cazenovia College at Hamilton College at 1 p.m.