Ithaca, NY – The Utica College baseball team was on the road Saturday for an Empire 8 doubleheader against Ithaca College. The Pioneers rallied in the sixth inning to take game one, 7-4, before falling 3-0 in game two.
Game One:
UC and the Bombers traded blows in the first inning, as the score read 4-4 heading to the top of the second.
Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with a single to right, bringing in one run to score.
Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS), the very next batter, then rattled off a two run double to seal the game with a three-run lead heading into final inning.
Leviton went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBI's to lead the team. Tiffin and
Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) both finished 1-for-3 with two RBI's.
Tom Carrigan (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) and
Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) both notched a double in the win.
Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) got the start on the hill, throwing for four innings before being relieved in the fifth. Senior
Brett Sarnowski (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) entered in relief, allowing just three hits in three innings of work. Sarnowski earned the winning decision to improve to 1-1 on the mound this season. The two pitchers combined for seven strikeouts.
Ithaca's Adam Gallaher was 2-for-4 in the game with one RBI, while Cam Fuoti notched just one hit to tally two RBI's. Jack Morello suffered his first loss of the season after 5.2 innings of action, making his season record stand at 4-1 on the mound. Morello struck out six batters in game one and allowed just two earned runs to score.
Game Two:
Ithaca's Jake Binder threw a complete game shutout in the second contest, accumulating nine strikeouts in nine innings and allowing just three hits. Receiving the winning decision, Binder improves to 4-2 this season. The bats of the Bombers were led by Jake Generali's 2-for-5 effort which included an RBI single. The Bombers improved to 13-11 overall and 6-5 against Empire 8 opponents at this point in the schedule.
Utica's catcher,
Ben Julian (Wynantskill, NY/Troy), batted 2-for-4 in game two and stole one base.
Tom Carrigan (Niskayuna, NY/Niskayuna) stole on base as well to go with his 1-for-3 effort at the plate. Senior pitcher
Alex Rocci (Utica, NY/Notre Dame) was given the loss on the mound, after allowing just one run to score in seven innings of work. Rocci's record is now 3-2 this far into the year.
The Pioneers are now 11-8 overall after splitting the doubleheader and own a conference mark of 4-4. UC and Ithaca will close out the three-game set on Sunday with a 1 p.m. start time.
