Houghton, NY - The Utica College baseball team earned its first doubleheader sweep of the season by going on the road and taking down Houghton College 13-4 in game one and 10-5 in game two.
Game 1
Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) started the game off on a high note as he took the mound as a starter for the 33rd time in his career, becoming the all-time record holder for starts by a Utica College pitcher.
Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) wanted to make sure Baur also secured the wins record too as the transfer student gave UC an early 2-0 lead with an RBI triple before coming across on a wild pitch in the first inning.
While Houghton answered back with a 2-run home run in the second, the Pioneers offense piled on 10 runs combined between the second and third innings to give Baur and the defense a 12-2 advantage. The big blast came in the third inning off of a John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) three run home run to left center field. Son finished game one 3-5 with a double.
Baur surrendered two more runs in the game, one in the fourth and fifth inning, as he finished the game going five innings allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits while striking out 10 Highlander batters on his way to securing the win. Baur's win was the 14th of his career in a Pioneers uniform making him the all-time leader in wins in program history.
James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn HS) relieved Baur in the sixth inning and finished the final two innings allowing no runs on two hits while striking out four of the seven batters he faced.
At the dish, Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mt. St. Michael) and Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) combined to go 4-7 at the top of the order with five runs scored between the two outfielders.
Game 2
Daniel Parslow (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) took the bump in game two for the Pioneers. He ran into some early trouble as Houghton pushed across a run in the first on an RBI groundout to make it 1-0. However, just like in the first game, the Pioneers offense had its pitcher back.
UC scored five runs in the next half inning to make it a 5-1 game. The team scored each of those runs on a hit by pitch, fielders choice, error and a wild pitch. Utica added two more in the third and fourth to give Parslow and the defense a 7-1 advantage.
Parslow surrendered two more runs in the fourth on an RBI triple which closed the gap to 7-3. His day would end after the conclusion of the fifth as he finished with three runs allowed, all earned, on five hits while striking out eight batters to one walk as he also picked up the win in the contest.
UC answered back with three more runs between the fifth and seventh inning to give them a 10-3 lead. Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) entered the game in relief of Parslow as he threw the final two innings giving up two runs, none of which earned. Those two runs would make no difference in the game as the Pioneers held on 10-5 to secure the sweep over Houghton.
Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) and Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland) each went 2-3 in game two, each scoring twice while Leviton added an RBI to his line.
Coming up the Pioneers will travel to Elmira for a doubleheader on April 2 with game times slated for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The following day, April 3, Elmira will come to Utica for a doubleheader for 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. games.
