UTICA, NY - The Utica College baseball team chases the postseason, and hosts an important rivalry game this week. The Pioneers will travel to Canton on April 30 for the completion of a suspended game, and a conference game at 2 p.m. The team will travel to Hamilton College for the 32nd annual Jackie Robinson Game on Wednesday, May 1st at 4 p.m.

Tuesday Coverage: Live video for Tuesday's game is available at https://rooathletics.com/sports/2016/3/4/roos-baseball-broadcasts.aspx, and live stats will also be made available through SUNY Canton Athletic Communications. 

Follow Along Wednesday: Fans will have a bevy of options available to them to follow Wednesday's action. Live video and stats will be provided by Hamilton College Athletic Communications, with video at NSNSports.net/Hamilton. In addition, WPNR 90.7 FM will also be traveling for Wednesday's game if the weather conditions allow with sports information assistant Ray Biggs '13 working alongside WPNR-FM sports director Nicholas Ahles on the call. That broadcast is available online at PioneerRadio.org or on 90.7FM locally.

Last Time Out: The Pioneers were swept in a doubleheader by St. John Fisher on Sunday. In the first game, the St. John Fisher Cardinals topped Utica 8-5. Senior Matt Fitzgerald had two RBI for the day as well as three hits. In the second game of the series, the Pioneers lost 17-3. Junior Ryan Palmer (Verona, NY/VVS) had two hits, one RBI and one run scored.

The Playoff Situation: Utica currently sits fourth in the Empire 8 conference with a 6-6 conference record. Ithaca, Stevens Institute of Technology, and St. John Fisher are the top three teams in the conference and cannot be caught by anyone beyond the top four teams, so their playoff spots are secured. Utica is currently in a battle with Houghton for the fourth and final playoff spot, and the Pioneers could lock up their spot with a sweep on Tuesday. The Highlanders are 5-10 and have three games remaining, two of them against St. John Fisher. The conference goes on a point system with two points per win. The Pioneers have twelve points, and the Highlanders have ten. Houghton is idle in conference play on Tuesday, while the Pioneers will generate two results between the suspended game and the scheduled game. If Utica records a win in both of those games, the lead increases to six points for Utica and the Pioneers will stand at Houghton's maximum point total of sixteen points. Utica swept the season series against the Highlanders and would break any ties between the two by that fashion, so the Pioneers cannot be caught by the Highlanders if they get two wins on Tuesday and would punch a ticket to the conference tournament in that fashion.

An Important Inning: Before Tuesday's scheduled game, Utica and Canton will pick up a suspended game from April 10th. The game was halted due to darkness in the second game of a doubleheader with the score tied. It will resume in the top of the ninth inning tied at 1, with Canton up to bat, nobody on base, and nobody out. Zach McGettigan (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) scored the crucial game-tying run in the bottom of the eighth on a Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS) single before the umpire crew intervened to halt the game. Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) is 3-for-4, and Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) is 3-for-3 with three RBI in the suspended game. For the Roos, Brett Hoberman, Shane Tiernan, and Gokul Pisharody are the three players tenatively due to hit in the nine inning. The Pioneers have Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck), Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame), and Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) currently penciled in to their upcoming batting order.

Timmy Terrific: Senior infielder Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) carries a six-game hitting streak into this week's contests. The Pioneers' all-time hits and doubles leader is carrying a .397 average. He has the second best single season doubles total in school history with fourteen. Quinlan was last held without a hit on April 16th against Oneonta, and has at least one hit on all dates where the Pioneers have played an Empire 8 game this season. He has appeared in all 30 games the Pioneers have completed to this point in the season.

The Kick Is Good: In addition to kicking field goals for the Utica College football team, Maki Medici (Latham, NY/Shaker) also has quite the bat at the plate for the Pioneer baseball squad. While primarily patrolling center field, Medici is second on the squad with a .326 batting average and is tied for the team lead in runs scored with 21.

Above Average: The Pioneers rank third in the conference as a squad in batting average with a team clip of .267 at the plate. Quinlan's average of .397 ranks third on the Empire 8 leaderboard as he chases a fourth straight all-conference selection.

Paying The Price of Admission: Catcher and outfielder Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) has no trouble taking contact from the occasional wayward pitch to get himself on base. Leviton has been hit by a pitch on nine different instances to rank fifth in the Empire 8 conference in that category.

The Shutdown Man: Closer Joe Palmieri (West Islip, NY/West Islip) now leads the Empire 8 conference with six saves, and has already doubled the previous Utica College record in that category. He is fourth among eligible pitchers in the conference with a 1.50 earned run average, and opponents are hitting just .167 against him. He has allowed just two runs in the entirety of his workload this year.

Empire 8 Highlights: The Pioneers are currently 6-6 in conference play, marking the 2/3rds point of the 18 game conference schedule. Highlights this season include a 7-5 win over second place Stevens. During that game, junior Jonathan Hardy (Clinton, NY/Clinton) was the winning pitcher. Hardy struck out three of the 22 batters he faced. Another major plus for the Pioneers in Empire 8 play was the team's sweep of Houghton, who has been right behind Utica in the fight for a playoff spot.

Scouting SUNY Canton: The Kangaroos are currently 6-27 on the season. The Kangaroos recently split a series with Elmira College. Canton won the first game 5-4, with seniors Brett Hoberman and Ben Miller each scoring two RBIs. Canton lost the second game of the series 8-9, with Hoberman scoring another two RBIs on the day. Before playing Utica on April 30, the Kangaroos have another doubleheader against Elmira, which were games rescheduled from April 27.

Against SUNY Canton: The Pioneers are currently 9-4 against SUNY Canton all-time. In the lone completed game between the two sides, the Pioneers prevailed 20-2 back on April 10th. Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) was 3-for-5 with three runs scored, while Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) was also 3-for-5 and scored a pair of runs while knocking in three rbi. Chris Ramsundar was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, and Maki Medici (Latham, NY/Shaker) did the same while also driving in a pair of runs in game one. Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) scored three runs, and Ryan Palmer (Verona, NY/VVS) had three RBI.

Scouting Hamilton: The Hamilton Continentals are 15-16 this season. Hamilton recently split a doubleheader against NESCAC rival Williams on April 28. Hamilton won the first game 3-2, with senior John Carey, freshman Brady Slinger and sophomore Matt Cappelletti each running in a score. The Continentals lost the second game 2-0.

Against Hamilton: The Pioneers are 22-21 against Hamilton since 1991, and Utica leads the Jackie Robinson Game's all-time series 16-15. The Pioneers most recently played the Continentals this season and lost 13-11. During the game, senior Christian Tiffin (Sherrill, NY/VVS) had three RBI, a double and a triple.

Looking Ahead: After playing Hamilton, the Pioneers will travel to Ithaca on May 4th. The game will start at 1 p.m.