Utica, NY - The Utica College baseball team will play a pair of doubleheaders this weekend as they take on Cazenovia College on Saturday and Rochester Institute of Technology on Sunday. Saturday's games will be played at Cortland at noon and 2 p.m. while Sunday's games will be played at RIT also at noon and 2 p.m.
Last Time Out: The Pioneers defeated Wells College 13-3 on March 17 to begin its season 1-0. UC recorded 15 hits as a team while the six pitchers that were used allowed just one earned run. Utica has now taken the last two games against Wells as they defeated the Express 13-10 in 2019.
Next Man Up: There was no shortage of arms against Wells as Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills), James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn HS), Travis Grogan (Middletown, NY/Middletown), Brian Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas), Brendon Sarnowski (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) and Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) combined to pitch a relatively clean game. The pitching staff only allowed one earned run on six hits while striking out nine. Grogan was credited with the win as the senior pitched clean fourth and fifth innings where he allowed no runs on two hits while setting down four batters.
Star-Studded Outfield: Starting outfielders Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mt. St. Michael), Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) and John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) got it done at the plate in the team's 13-3 opening day win. The trio went a combined 6/12 at the dish while driving in three and scoring four times total. Leviton went 3/4 on the day with a pair of RBIs while Vanegas went 3/6 at the plate. They also kept it clean in the field as no errors were recorded in the outfield.
Big Bat Battista: Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) had himself a day against the Express. The first baseman finished the game a perfect 3/3 at the dish while scoring three runs and working a pair of walks. Battista also drove in a run in the first inning by way of a base hit.
Scouting Cazenovia: The Wildcats are 2-4 so far this season and are currently on a three game losing skid. They also opened their season against Wells, dropping the first game 12-0 while coming back to take the second game 8-2. Parker Wing has been the star of the offense hitting .300 through six games with three RBIs. As a team the offense has only hit.167 so far this season. On the mound, Joe DeGroot has only allowed one earned run in his 10 innings of work. In relief, JP Kaufman and Derek Young have yet to allow an earned run. Kaufman has pitched 3.1 innings while holding opposing offenses to a .077 batting average while Young has pitched clean through his two innings.
A Look at RIT: The Tigers are 1-1 this season coming off a win against Elmira while dropping a close game to Houghton. RIT's offense has been powerful in its two games as it put up 33 runs on 35 hits. Ian Libby is currently hitting .625 with five RBIs while Patrick Blackall has hit .600 with six RBIs. Luke McNamara and Randy Dodig are both also hitting over .400 through the team's first two games. On the other hand, the pitching staff struggled over the first two games. The unit has posted a 7.13 ERA while giving up 11 extra base hits and 12 walks. Opponents have hit .351 on them while also posting a WHIP of 2.15. Starter Collin Reformat has been the bright spot for the pitching staff, posting a 1.80 ERA in five innings with four strikeouts.
Down the Road: The Pioneers will have five days off before playing Houghton College four times in two days. On March 26 UC will make the trip to Houghton for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. games while Houghton will then come to Utica on the 27th for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. games.
