The Utica College baseball team will host SUNY Poly for a non-conference doubleheader this Wednesday … Game one of this series is scheduled to start at 2 p.m.
 
Last Home Game of the Season: Wednesday marks the final home game in the Pioneers 2017 regular season campaign … Utica has done exceptionally well at their home field, as their only home loss came against the Stevens Ducks by a score of 15-13 … The Pioneers are 9-1 at their ballpark, which marks their best home record in the past 15 years. 
 
Last Time Out: Utica went 2-1 against the Stevens Ducks during the weekend's series … Saturday's game against Stevens was a thriller, but the Ducks pulled away late in the game and grabbed the 15-13 victory over the Pioneers … This game marked the first home loss for the team this season … Utica senior JT Ross (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) went 3-for-5 at the plate in the contest, with two RBI's, a double, and two scored runs … Ben Julian (Wynantskill, NY/Troy) batted 2-for-3 with two RBI's, a double, and one home run … Sophomore Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) and Adam Nell ( Vernon, NY/VVS) both finished with one home run, two RBI's, and one run scored … Alex Rocci (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) started on the mound for UC and struck out five batters, although he did not receive a decision … Senior Dom Caccioppoli (Circleville, NY/Pine Bush ) received the loss on the mound for the Pioneers, making his record now 2-1 this season.
 
Despite the first home loss last Saturday, Utica recovered for the final two games of the series on Sunday by defeating the Ducks in both contests (Game 1: 9-3; Game 2: 7-6) … Quinlan had a strong performance in game one going 3-for-4 with a double and three RBIs … Utica pitcher Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) earned the win as he struck out four batters in seven innings of work … Junior Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston) went 1-for-5, in game two, with an RBI and a walk-off single … Freshman pitcher Jake Cavanagh (Plainville, NY/King Phillip Regional) got the win in game two, pitching four innings and only allowing one run. 
 
Pioneers' Overall Record and Ranking in the Empire 8: After the weekend series against Stevens, the Pioneers now have a 15-12 overall record and a 7-5 Empire 8 Conference record … Utica also has the Empire 8 conference's third best batting average of .320. 
 
Top Performing Batters: Ross is still the Pioneers' top hitter so far this season … He leads the team in hits with 47 and leads the Empire 8 with a batting average of .443 … Ross also recorded one homerun and 24 RBI's. 
 
Top Performing Pitchers: Baur and Rocci are the two most reliable pitchers for the Pioneers this season … Baur has a 5.95 ERA and a team-high 33 strikeouts in the eight games he played in his freshman year… Rocci, on the other hand, has a 5.97 ERA and struck out 25 batters in the eight games he played this season.  
 
Scouting SUNY Poly: The SUNY Poly Wildcats have a 6-21 overall record … The team went 0-2 in a road doubleheader against Gallaudet University last Sunday … Despite the rough season, the Wildcats do have a solid hitting core, as seven of their batters have 20 or more hits … Senior Ryan Wegner has a team best batting average of .384, and a team-high 33 hits … Senior pitcher Dylan Jones is the Wildcats' top performing pitcher, as he has recorded a team-high 16 strikeouts and has an ERA of 4.91 in the eight games he played this season … The Pioneers swept SUNY Poly in a road doubleheader last season. 
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will kick-off their five game road trip against Empire 8 rival St. John Fisher this Thursday at 3 p.m.