UTICA, NY - The Utica College baseball team improved to a 3-1 start in conference play as they swept visiting Houghton College by scores of 10-9 and 11-5 in an Empire 8 doubleheader on Friday at the Utica College baseball field.

The Pioneers improve to 9-6 overall alongside their 3-1 conference record. Houghton fell to 8-5. The two teams are scheduled to meet in a second doubleheader on Saturday at Houghton, with first pitch slated for 1 p.m.

Zac Cronk (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) led the way over the course of the two matchups with a 5-of-7 hitting performance. He scored four runs and drove in another four. Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) finished the doubleheader going 4-for-7 with 3 runs scored and an RBI. Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mt. St. Michael) was 3-for-7 with three runs scored and an RBI. Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) scored five runs and had a triple in the second game. Utica combined to hammer out 31 hits combined in the two contests, compared to just 20 for Houghton.

Graduate student Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) played in the 100th game of his career in the first game.

Game One: Utica 10, Houghton 9 (7 Innings)

A sacrifice fly by Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) brought in Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) to break a 9-9 tie in the bottom of the seventh as the Pioneers overcame a nine-run sixth inning by the Highlanders to post a 10-9 walk-off win in the opener.

McCullough had three hits and drove in three runs, including that winning score, to lead the way for the Pioneers offensively. Cronk was 3-for-3 and scored a pair of runs, and Muentener was 3-for-4 and scored three runs while also logging Utica's only extra base hit of game one with a double.

Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) collected the win with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. The win is his first as a Pioneer. Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) got the start and threw five fantastic innings before the Highlanders offense came to life in the sixth. He was charged with six runs in the sixth inning after posting five scoreless frames, and struck out six on the day. Ryan Newtown took the loss for the Highlanders.

The Pioneers looked like a well-oiled machine through the first five innings as they plated seven runs while Baur kept the Highlanders virtually silent. That all changed in the sixth inning when the Highlanders exploded for nine runs on five hits to take a 9-7 lead. Utica chipped back into the lead quickly in the bottom of the inning, as John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) plated Cronk on a sacrifice fly, and Vanegas scored on a wild pitch to tie the score at nine.

A scoreless top of the seventh set the stage for the game-ending heroics. An infield single by Muentener got the wheels in motion, and he moved on to second on a single by Cronk. Vanegas then singled to load the bases up with just one out, providing McCullough with the avenue to fly the ball into the outfield, and score Muentener on the tag-up for the 10-9 win.

Game Two: Utica 11, Houghton 5, (Nine Innings)

Game two was decisively more tilted in the way of the Pioneers, as they scored five of the first six runs of the game, and scored six insurance runs while eluding the big inning the Highlanders got in game one to post an 11-5 win.

Utica pounded out eleven runs on sixteen hits in the matchup. Five of those hits were for extra bases, led by two doubles from Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton HS), and a triple from Muentener. Cronk and Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) added the other doubles. All nine spots in the lineup produced a hit.

John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) was 2-for-2 with 2 RBI and a run scored. He also worked two walks. Battista was 2-for-5, Story was 3-for-5 along with John Longeretta (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany), who was 3-for-5 and also scored two runs. Cronk was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI.

On the mound, Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) collected his first win at UC, and was very much in control of his Friday outing. The local product hurled six strong innings and allowed three runs on six hits while striking out four. Mangino threw another two innings of relief, and Christian Cicchetti (West Babylon/West Babylon) finished the game out.

Houghton established an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single in the second inning. A two-run double in the bottom of that inning by Cronk gave the Pioneers the lead, and they never trailed again as they turned in a trio of three-run innings in the fourth, sixth, and seventh to seal the deal.