Utica, NY – The Utica College baseball team will travel to Ithaca College this weekend for Empire 8 Conference action. The three game series will begin Saturday with a double header scheduled to begin at 12 p.m. Game three will begin at 1 p.m on Sunday.

Heating Up: The Pioneers are 17 games into their 2018 campaign and hold a 10-7 overall record and currently sit fourth in the Empire 8 standings with a 3-3 record. The Pioneers are on a three game winning streak after taking 2-of-3 from Elmira, before defeating Hamilton on Tuesday by a score of 7-2.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers took care of the Hamilton Continentals in their last appearance on the diamond, earning a 7-2 victory on the road. Second baseman Ryan Palmer (Verona, NY/VVS) had himself a great outing as he finished 3-for-5 at the plate with four RBI's to lead the way for UC. Although Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) got the start on the hill, senior Alex Rocci (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) received the winning decision to improve to 3-1 on the year. Utica has now won three in a row heading into the weekend matchup with Ithaca.
 
Top Trio in the E8: Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame), Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS), and Ryan Palmer (Verona, NY/VVS) are currently the top three hitters in the Empire 8 Conference, all with batting averages above the .400 mark. Fitzgerald is leading the conference with a batting average of .453, while Tiffin is right behind him in second with an average of .452. Palmer sits in third in the E8 batting average rankings (.403) and leads the Pioneers with 17 RBI's on the season. Utica's bats will be a force to be reckoned with if this trio can sustain its success at the plate.

UC it Hit It:  Utica is currently leading the Empire 8 in batting average (.324) and also sits atop the conference in slugging percentage (.477). Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck), Jake Ryan (Kingston, NY/Kingston), and Tom Carrigan (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) are also contributing to the Pioneers' offensive success with all three hitting in the top 15 of the conference. Quinlan currently sits 12^th with a .364 average. Ryan is 14^th hitting .353 and Carrigan 15^th with a .350 average.
 
Conference Competition: The Pioneers enter the weekend with a .500 record against Empire 8 opponents, holding a mark of 3-3 within the conference. The team has played two separate three-game sets with E8 opponents so far, matching up against Houghton and Elmira earlier this season. Opening up conference play against Houghton in March, UC took game one of the series, 4-3, behind a complete game by pitcher Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills). The Highlanders would come back to win the final two contests of the set by scores of 10-6 and 13-9. The Pioneers took on Elmira next and dropped the opening game of the series, 12-2. Utica's offense responded with 29 runs over the final two games of the matchup for wins of 14-8 and 15-5. When pitted against Empire 8 pitchers, shortstop Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS) is hitting a conference-best .650 at the plate. The team faces an E8 foe this weekend in the Bombers from Ithaca College.

Pitching Leaders: Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) leads the Utica College pitching staff as the ace of the group with a record of 4-1. Baur is tied for first in the Empire 8 in wins with a 4-1 record and leads UC with 25 strikeouts in 25.2 innings of work on the hill.  Senior Alex Rocci (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) is 3-1 in five starts on the mound so far this season. Justin Shabman (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Kennedy Catholic) is tied for first in the conference with two saves and leads the team with an ERA of 2.93. Relief pitcher, Brett Sarnowski (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) currently sports a 3.45 ERA which is second best on the team behind Shabman, and also has 19 strikeouts which is good for second best on the team behind Baur. 
 
Scouting Ithaca: The Bombers are 12-10 overall and 5-4 in Empire 8 play after taking on Houghton College on Wednesday. Ithaca walked away with a 13-10 win over the Highlanders on the road. Andrew Bailey and Jake Generali combined for seven RBI's, as they both registered one double in the contest. Emmett Dunn struck out seven batters as he threw for 5.2 innings on his way to receiving the win. Adam Gallagher's batting average of .333 leads the Bombers and he also is tops on the team with 18 RBI's so far this year. Jack Morello is 4-0 on the mound this season, accumulating a team-best 30 strikeouts in 37 innings of work. The Bombers currently lead the Empire 8 in pitching with an overall ERA of 3.56. The Bombers pitching staff has also only allowed 69 earned runs this season which is also best in the conference.

Looking Ahead: The Pioneers take a one game break from conference play next week when they travel to face Oneonta. The opening pitch is scheduled to get the game started at 4 p.m.