UTICA, NY- The Utica College baseball team will travel to Hamilton College to take on the Continentals on Tuesday, April 9th at 4 p.m. Then on Wednesday UC will host SUNY Canton for a doubleheader, starting at 2 p.m. Utica is currently 5-13 on the season after just dropping two of three games to Stevens this past weekend.
 
Last Time Out: On Saturday the Pioneers went head to head with Empire 8 competitor Stevens. Utica put Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) on the mound for five innings of work, in which he gave up three earned runs on four hits and struck out five batters in the 5-2 loss.
 
Sunday the teams were back on the diamond for a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. Utica got on the board early with Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) doubling to center scoring Maki Medici (Latham, NY/Shaker), Medici scored on a fielder's choice later giving Utica a two run lead. Stevens came back in the second inning with two runs of their own. After that it was all UC scoring three runs in the third inning and then two runs in the fourth. The Pioneers took game one, 7-5, over the Ducks. Stevens rallied together for the second game coming out early scoring eight runs in four innings of play. Utica would not be able to battle back from the deficit, losing 18-6.
 
Inside The Numbers: Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck) is ranked 4th currently in the Empire 8 conference in hitting with a .391 batting average for 64 at bats, 25 hits, two home runs, and 15 runs batted in on the season.
 
He's Stealing: Utica this year is 16 for 21 in stolen bases while their opponents are 15-27 on the base paths this year. Tim Quinlan (Monroe, CT/Masuck), Maki Medici (Latham, NY/Shaker), and Nate Palmer (Verona, NY/VVS) are all tied with four stolen bases this year.
 
Tuesday Night Baseball: Utica will host Hamilton Tuesday night at 4 p.m. Hamilton comes in after a tough loss to New Paltz 10-9 over the weekend. This is the first time the teams will meet this year, in the past two years the Pioneers have come away with a win in the regular season but fail to win the Jackie Robinson game in May.
 
Wednesday's E8 Matchup: Wednesday the Pioneers will welcome SUNY Canton to the UC Baseball field for an Empire 8 doubleheader. Due to weather conditions, the series between these two teams was cancelled last season. UC (1-4, E8) will look to improve upon its in-conference mark against Canton (0-6, E8) who is currently on a nine-game losing skid. During the 2017 season, Utica got the best of Canton in two of the three meetings.
 
Scouting Hamilton: The Contentials this season have six batters batting over 300 on the roster resulting in their 10-9 record. Ethan Wallis has the top average on the team batting .387 with 62 at bats, 24 hits, one homerun, and 11 RBIs. Brady Slinger is right behind Wallis with a .340 average for 53 at bats, 18 hits, and seven runs batted in. On the pitching side Hamilton's pitching staff has 149 innings pitched with 103 strikeouts and a team ERA of 4.27.  Gavin Schaefer-Hood leads the team with 35 innings pitched, 20 strikeouts, and a 2.31 ERA on the season.
 
Scouting Canton: The Roos are struggling so far this year, holding a 3-18 overall record heading into the week. The team will be looking for its first win against an Empire 8 opponent this season on Wednesday. Brandon Bautista has the highest batting average (.304) and on base percentage (.467) for Canton currently. Collin Trathen (0-3) has had the most action from the pitching staff, striking out a team-best 22 batters in just over 22 innings pitched.
 
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers are at home once again this upcoming weekend, with a three game series against Houghton kicking off at 4 p.m. on Friday. The set will conclude with a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.