Utica, NY - The Utica College baseball team went on the road and split Friday's Empire 8 semifinal series with Houghton College. The Highlanders took game one 8-7 before the Pioneers offense showed up for a 18-5 win in game two to force a game three in Houghton tomorrow at 3 p.m. 
 
Game 1
Houghton scored four runs over the final two innings to defeat Utica 8-7 in game one of the Empire 8 Semifinals. 
 
After a quiet two innings from both teams, the Pioneers broke the scoring skid with three runs in the 3rd inning. Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) belted his first home run of the season on a two-run shot to right field to put UC ahead 2-0. Two batters later, Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) singled home John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) to extend Utica's lead to 3-0. 
 
One inning later, McCullough singled home Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) in the 4th to put UC ahead 4-0. In the home half of the inning, Utica starter Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) allowed his first runs of the game on a two-run home run as the Highlanders closed the gap to 4-2. A wild pitch off the hand of Baur allowed another run to come across in the 5th inning to make it a 4-3 game in favor of Utica. 
 
In the top of the 6th inning, Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton HS) stepped up and blasted a two-run home run, his second of the season, to put the Pioneers ahead 6-3. Son then put UC ahead 7-3 in the top of the 8th inning on a double to center field to score Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mt. St. Michael). Houghton added a run in the 6th inning by way of a wild pitch to make it a 7-4 game.
 
Although the game seemed to be in Utica's control, Houghton came storming back in the later innings. After Baur was removed from the game entering the 8th inning the Highlanders erupted for three runs in the home half to even the game at seven apiece. 
 
A quiet Pioneers 9th inning left the faith in the hands of the Highlanders in the bottom half. The leadoff hitter, Kevin Zientara, blasted a walk-off home run to complete the comeback and give the Highlanders a 8-7 win in game one. 
 
McCulough, Son and Cronk each recorded two hits in the game while Baur allowed four runs on five hits over seven innings of work to go along with 12 strikeouts and no walks. 
 
Game 2
UC jumped on the board early on with a run in the top of the 1st inning. Battista singled home Cronk to put the Pioneers ahead 1-0 before the Highlanders struck back in the home half with two runs to take a one run lead into the 2nd inning. However, that would be Houghton's only lead of the game as the Utica offense put its foot on the gas and never let up over the final eight innings of play. 
 
In the 3rd inning, Battista singled home another run to even the game while Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) and Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) followed suit with an RBI each to put Utica ahead 4-2 after three. 
 
From the 5th inning to the 7th inning, UC pushed across eight more runs as they held a 12-2 lead entering the bottom of the 7th inning. Houghton added three runs in the 7th inning to make it a seven run game, however, the Pioneers added six more runs over the final two frames to record a season high 18 runs. Son's grand slam in the 9th inning put the nail in the coffin as the Pioneers came out with a 18-5 win in game two. Battista and Muentener each went 4-for-5 at the plate, combining for eight of the team's 13 hits, while Muentener recorded three RBIs in the win. 
 
James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn HS) earned the win as the lefty tossed 6.1 innings in which he allowed five runs (two earned) on 10 hits while striking out 10 Highlanders. 
 
With the split today, Utica and Houghton will meet again tomorrow in Houghton at 3 p.m. The Winner of the game will advance to the Empire 8 Championship Series next Friday to take on top-seeded St. John Fisher.