Utica, NY - The Utica College baseball team dropped both games in Saturday's doubleheader against Alfred State.
Game 1:
Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) took the hill in game one and fell behind early as Brody Burdett took him deep to left on the third pitch of the game. Another Alfred St. run came across in the 1st on an E7 as Utica came to the dish in the first in a 2-0 hole.
The game remained 2-0 until the 5th inning when another unearned Alfred St. came across on an E9. The Pioneers added another on a sacrifice fly to double its lead to 4-0. The 5th inning would be Baur's last as he gave up four runs, two earned on six hits while striking out eight on his way to being credited with the loss.
UC picked a run up in the bottom half of the 5th on a Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) RBI single to right however, Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mt. St. Michael) was gunned down at home trying to make it a two run single.
Tyler Catalfamo (Albany, NY/Colonie) relieved Baur in the 6th inning and was attacked for three runs, all earned, while UC was held in check in the home half of the inning as Alfred St. took a 7-1 lead into the 7th.
Justin McKenna (Pittsburgh, PA/Plum Senior) threw the final inning for UC and finished his 7th with three strikeouts and one walk. Utica added a pair of runs in the bottom half on a Battista RBI single and Leviton RBI double however, Alfred St. hung on to take game one 7-3.
Battista finished game one 3-for-3 with two RBIs and a walk while John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) went 2-for-4 at the dish.
AJ Gartland tossed a solid four-plus innings for Alfred St. as the righty finished allowed just one run on four hits while also striking out four on his way to picking up the win.
Game 2:
Scoring was not hard to come by in game two as UC's bats woke up while Alfred St. kept its momentum from game one.
UC found themselves in a 5-0 deficit before recording an at bat in the game. Alfred St. recorded a three-run home run and a pair of RBI singles in its five run first inning. However, the Utica offense chipped away at the gap by putting across four runs in the home half of the 1st. After Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) brought home a run on a hit by pitch, Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland) cleared the bases with a three RBI double to left to make it a 5-4 ballgame.
In the 2nd, Battista brought across two runs on a double to the right field gap and then came across himself on an error by third base. Barber then finished the scoring outburst with a solo homerun deep to left field, giving UC an 8-5 lead. However, it wouldn't last long as Alfred St. scored nine unanswered runs between the 3rd and 6th inning. The big blow came in the 6th on a three-run homerun to open the lead up to 14-8. UC pushed across one more in the 7th before falling in game two 14-9.
Travis Grogan (Middletown, NY/Middletown) started for UC as he went 2.1 innings allowing nine runs, seven earned, on nine hits as he picked up the loss in the game. At the dish, Barber finished the game 3-for-4 as he accounted for half of UC's hits in the game. Each team left six runners stranded in the game as well.
The Pioneers will stay home to take on Houghton College on April 9 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. On April 10 Houghton will host Utica at the same times.
