Utica, NY - The Utica College baseball team returned home on Saturday to take on Empire 8 opponent Keuka College in a doubleheader. The team's split on the day with UC taking game one followed by Keuka striking back to take game two.
Game 1
Backed by Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) on the bump and 14 hits as a team, it was smooth sailing for the Pioneers in the team's 11-3 game one win.
UC started its scoring spree early in the 1st inning when Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mt. St. Michael) came home on a throwing error by the catcher attempting to gun Vanegas down at third base following a wild pitch. The Pioneers chalked up three more runs in the 2nd inning on RBI singles by Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame), Vanegas and Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) to give Baur and the Pioneers a 4-0 lead after two.
After Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) came across home in the 3rd inning on a balk, UC opened up the floodgates by putting across five more runs in the 4th inning to take a commanding 10-0 lead. John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills), Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls), Cardone, Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) and Zac Cronk (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) all had RBIs in the inning.
The Wolves scored their first run of the game in the 5th inning on an RBI single to left. Baur's day ended after five innings while allowing just one unearned run on five hits to go along with three strikeouts. The program's all-time wins leader sat comfortably around 83-85 MPH in the chilly weather.
UC added an insurance run in the 5th to give relief pitcher Brian Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) an 11-1 lead. Keuka added one run in the 6th and 7th innings as Dinnen would eventually shut the door and secure the 11-3 win. Dinnen finished tossing two innings allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits.
At the dish, Cardone went 2-for-2 with a walk and a sacrifice fly. Son, Battista, Fitzgerald and Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) all went 2-for-4 while all of them with the exception of Leviton recorded an RBI.
Game 2
After a solid game one at the plate, Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) took the mound in game two for UC. Both team's bats went silent in the 1st inning until the Wolves brought the boom in the 2nd.
Brady Booher took Cardone deep to left with two outs in the 2nd inning to give Keuka its first lead of either game. UC scored one in the 2nd themselves as Daniel Parslow (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville) drove home Leviton on a single to right. The teams traded runs in the 3rd inning again to make it a 2-2 game heading into the 4th inning. That's where the Wolves gained some breathing room.
A two RBI triple followed by an RBI single gave Keuka a 5-2 lead and also pushed Cardone out of the game after four innings allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out seven.
Brendon Sarnowski (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) entered the game for Cardone in the 5th and fell into some early trouble. The senior allowed the first two hitters to reach base before escaping the inning allowing one run on a sacrifice fly that put the Wolves ahead 6-2. Two consecutive bases loaded hit by pitches in the home half helped the Pioneers pull within two runs heading into the 6th. However, Keuka got those two runs back on a two RBI double to left center to make it an 8-4 game.
Both teams failed to score again until the 9th inning. The Wolves added two more insurance runs in the top half while Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland) homered to left in the bottom of the 9th inning. UC couldn't mount a comeback after Barber's long ball and the Wolves held on for a 10-5 win.
UC is back in action on Sunday as they head to Keuka Park to take on Keuka in another doubleheader. Game one is set to begin at 1 p.m.
