Utica, NY - The Utica College baseball team winds down its regular season this week with a slate of crucial Empire 8 games that will impact conference tournament seeding for more than one team. UC begins its week at home when they take on Keuka at 2 p.m. before playing a doubleheader on Wednesday against Elmira starting at 1 p.m.
Follow Along: Live stats will be provided for all three games and can be found by following
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.
Last Time Out: UC was swept by Fisher on the road on Saturday just four days after defeating the Cardinals for the first time in five years. Sunday's doubleheader between the schools was postponed due to rain.
Pitch Perfect: The Pioneers' 8-2 road win against Fisher on April 27 could not have happened without strong outings on the mound from
Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills) and
Daniel Parslow (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville). Baur started the game and pitched into the 6th inning before being pulled after allowing the first three batters of the inning to reach base. Parslow entered in relief and shut the door on the inning, inducing a 6-3 double play and a flyout to escape the jam. It was smooth sailing from there as Parslow tossed the final three innings afterwards to secure the win. Baur finished with five innings pitched and allowed one run on four hits as well as six strikeouts. Parslow three four full innings allowing one unearned run on one hit as well as a strikeout.
Bat to Watch: Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mt. St. Michael) finished 5-for-13 at the plate with a pair of doubles and two runs scored against Fisher this past week. He's also recorded a hit in his past eight games dating back to April 14, giving him the longest active hitting streak on the team after
Joe Battista's (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) 16-game hitting streak was snapped in game two against Fisher on Saturday. Vanegas is 11-for-33 during his hitting streak and has watched his season average climb to .319 which is the third highest on the team.
Scouting Keuka The Wolves (5-11, 5-11 Empire 8) have lost back-to-back games after going down 6-5 on Sunday at the hands of Elmira. Keuka is 1-6 on the road this season with its lone road victory coming against the Pioneers on April 17. They have hit .288 as a team while averaging 6.5 runs per game over its 16 games. Ryan Seales leads the team hitting .352/.486/.463 with four doubles, a triple, 13 RBIs and 14 runs scored. The pitching staff owns an 11.01 ERA however, 53 of the team's 144 earned runs allowed came in its first four games of the season against St. John Fisher. K.C. Howe has hurled a team-leading 27 innings with an 0-2 record and 7.00 ERA in five starts to show for it. He has also recorded 22 of the team's 88 total strikeouts.
A Look at Elmira: Unlike Keuka, The Eagles (5-24, 3-12 Empire 8) will enter Wednesday's game winners of two straight games, the team's first winning streak since taking both games of a doubleheader against SUNY Canton on March 27. Like the Wolves however, Elmira isn't a strong road team as they have compiled a 1-13 record away from home this season. The Eagles have slashed .238/.381/.322 as a team this season while Myles Littlejohn and Joe Morrone have been bright spots at the plate. Littlejohn has hit .350 in 60 at-bats while seven of his 21 hits have gone for extra bases, including a home run. Morrone owns a .346 average in 81 at-bats while hitting 10 doubles and two long balls. The pitching unit carries an 8.39 ERA into Wednesday's matchups while opponents have also hit .322 off of them.
Up Next: While there has been no official announcement made regarding a makeup date for Sunday's doubleheader rainout against St. John Fisher, UC (13-13, 6-7 Empire 8) will still have at least two regularly scheduled games ahead. The Pioneers will travel to Houghton on May 8 to take on the Highlanders at 1 p.m. before hosting Elmira once again on May 9 at 1 p.m.
