Houghton, NY - The Utica College baseball team went on the road and fell 21-9 to Houghton on Friday afternoon.Utica held a 9-6 lead late in the game before the Houghton offense erupted for 15 runs over its final three innings at the plate. With the win today, the Highlanders take the season series against the Pioneers, 3-2, while also having the tiebreaker advantage over UC in the standings.
The Pioneers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on a
Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) RBI single. However, UC starter
Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was hit hard in the home half of the 1st as the Highlanders sent home five runners to spring ahead 5-1.
Houghton added another run in the 2nd inning before the Pioneers closed the gap in the 3rd inning.
Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River) walked home a run before a fielder's choice brought home another to make it a 6-3 game.
Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) then singled to left which scored
Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland) to bring the Pioneers within two runs. Cardone pitched a clean 3rd inning to keep the score at 6-4 as his day was fished following the inning.
After reliever
Brendon Sarnowski (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) kept the game in check in the 4th, UC evened the game in the 5th inning as Muentener and
Zac Cronk (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) both singled home a run each. Another clean inning by Sarnowski gave the Pioneers a chance to regain the lead in the 6th; and they did.
Battista brought home
John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) from third on a ball hit back to the mound while Muentener came through again by bringing in two runs on a single to right to give Utica a 9-6 lead. However, from that point forward the Highlanders took over.
A four run 6th inning and a two run 7th inning gave Houghton a late lead with the game very much in reach. A nine-run 8th inning by the Highlanders would put the game out of reach, however, as the big blow came from a grand slam off the bat of Wayne Rode. The Pioneers were blanked in the 9th inning as Houghton pulled away for a 21-9 win.
Of the 21 runs allowed by the Pioneers pitching staff, 17 were earned on 21 hits while nine Highlanders reached on a walk.
At the plate, Battista and Muentener both went 3-for-4 which accounted for six of the 11 hits by the team. Leviton finished 2-for-3 at the dish while Muentener led the team with three RBIs.
UC (16-14, 9-8 Empire 8) will return home tomorrow to take on Elmira College at 1 p.m.
