UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team travels to Florida from March 13-16 and will play seven games between Muhlenberg College (DH, Mar. 13), Thomas College (ME) (DH, Mar. 14), Dickinson College (Mar. 15) and New York University (DH, Mar. 16). The Pioneers will play Muhlenberg from Northeast Regional Park in Davenport, FL, Thomas and Dickinson from Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, FL and NYU from IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL.
Follow Along: Fans can purchase access to live stream all games through
https://russmatt.bethebeast.com/btb/eventliveplus. Live stats will only currently be available for the team's doubleheader against Muhlenberg through
https://muhlenbergsports.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary.
Last Time Out: Utica traveled to Diamond Nation in Flemington, NJ where it swept Yeshiva University for opening day wins of 14-1 and 17-1. In game one,
Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park),
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) and
Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland) all recorded two hits with Muentener also driving in a team high four runs. May,
John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) and Barber each drove in a pair of runs in the win as well. Nine different Pioneers collected at least one of the team's 12 hits. Utica also stole five bases as a team.
James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn HS) earned the win after four shutout innings on three hits and striking out five of 16 batters faced.
Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) pitched two scoreless innings of one-hit relief while freshman
Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro ) finished the game allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts in his collegiate debut. In the second game it was
Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls),
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) and Cardone carrying the way at the dish. The trio combined for 11 RBI with Crossley bringing home five, Battista four and Cardone two. Battista finished a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a home run while Cardone and Crossley each went 2-for-3.
Jack Krug (Amsterdam, NY/Canajoharie) earned his first career win as a Pioneer after 4 innings of two hit, one run ball while sitting down six via strikeout.
Tyler Catalfamo (Albany, NY/Colonie),
Brian Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) and
Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) each pitched one inning allowing no runs while Catalfamo and Dinnen retired each of the three batters they faced.
Early Accolades: Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) was named Empire 8 Player of the Week while
Jack Krug (Amsterdam, NY/Canajoharie) earned E8 Rookie of the Week honors for their outings against Yeshiva. Battista slashed .571/1.143/1.714 after going 4-for-7 with a home run and double each in the Pioneers' sweep over Yeshiva on Sunday. Battista drove in five runs and touched home four times himself while four of his RBI came in a 3-for-3 effort at the dish in Utica's 17-1 win in the second game. Krug earned his first career win in his first start as a Pioneer in the team's 17-1 win over Yeshiva on Sunday. Krug earned the victory after four innings of one-run ball on two hits while striking out six of 14 batters faced. The freshman was also quite efficient in the outing, throwing 52 pitches over four innings for an average of 13 pitches per frame.
May We All: Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) wasted no time making an impact in the Utica batting order. On the fifth pitch he saw in a Pioneers uniform, May connected on a 1-2 pitch and sent the ball over right field for a solo home run to give the team a 1-0 lead two batters into the season. May finished the day 3-for-6 (.500/1.000/1.625) with four runs and three RBI.
Extra, Extra: With the Pioneers combining for 24 hits over two games on Sunday, 15 of those went for extra bases (eight doubles, four triples, three home runs). That total leads the Empire 8 while having played the least amount of games of everyone in the conference (Keuka has not yet started its 2022 season).
Kings of the Hill: The Utica pitching staff surrendered a mere two runs over 14 innings of work on Sunday. The seven arms used over two games on Sunday combined for a 1.29 earned run average, a .216 opponent batting average, two total walks issued and under one hit allowed per inning. The unit also struck out 21 batters throughout the doubleheader, eight looking, and each pitcher recorded at least one. Krug led the way with six, followed by Roeschlaub's five, three out of Mangino and Czternastek, a pair from Catalfamo and one each from Cardone and Dinnen.
About Florida Opponents: Muhlenberg is off to a 5-0 start this season which it will take into the pair of games against Utica. The team has bested its opponents 57-16 over the first five outings, including a 13-3 win over Cazenovia and a 13-5 win over Rochester Institute of Technology. Thomas started its season in Florida and is 1-5 with six games to be played prior to taking on the Pioneers. As a team they have hit .263 over the first six games while having scored about four runs per game. The pitching staff owns a 6.43 ERA as well. Dickinson is 2-4 to start its season and will take on future common opponents of Utica, St. John Fisher and Ithaca, before playing the Pioneers. Its offense has averaged 4.5 runs per game on .195 hitting as a unit while the pitching staff owns a 6.75 ERA early into the year. NYU sits at 2-0 and will also take on a common opponent in Thomas before battling Utica. NYU combined to beat John Jay College 28-7 in its opening day sweep, including a 20-7 win in the first game of the doubleheader.
Up Next: The Pioneers will head south to Florida for the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational from March 13-16. The team will start the trip with a pair of games against Muhlenberg College on Mar. 13. The first game is set to begin at 2:30 p.m.
