UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team will travel to Oneonta, NY on Wednesday to take on the SUNY Oneonta Red Dragons. First pitch of the single nine inning contest is slated for 3 p.m.
Follow Along: Fans can watch via live stream through
https://oneontaathletics.com/watch/?Live=92&type=Live or keep up with live stats at
https://oneontaathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary.
Last Time Out: Utica split its neutral site set with SUNY Canton on Saturday, dropping the first game 15-9 before taking game two 4-3. In game one, James Roeschalub tossed four innings allowing nine runs, seven earned, on eight hits.
Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro ) pitched the final three frames allowing six runs on four hits in the losing effort. Both pitchers struck out five batters as well. At the plate,
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) led the team with two hits and five RBIs while
John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills),
Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls),
Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) and
Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland) also had two hits each.
Zac Cronk (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) went on to drive in a pair of runs as well. In the second game,
Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) went six innings allowing three runs, none earned, with three strikeouts.
Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) earned his first win of the season after an inning of no run ball, allowing just one base runner by way of an error. At the plate, Battista recorded two of the team's four hits while Son and
Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) were responsible for the other two.
Wake and Rake: Despite playing the second-fewest games in the Empire 8 thus far, the Pioneers lead the conference with a .338 batting average, .556 slugging percentage, a .472 on-base percentage 92 runs scored, 82 RBIs, nine triples and are tied with Sage for the league lead with 24 doubles. The team's .472 OBP and .556 SLG% is seventh in all of Division III while its .338 batting average ranks 24th in the country.
Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) has led the charge thanks to a .515 batting average that is 16th in DIII as well as his SLG% of 1.030 which is fourth in the nation. Others such as
Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton HS), who is fourth in the E8 batting .409,
Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland), who is 11th in the conference batting .353, and
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw), who owns the 14th highest average in the league at .333, have helped the offense record a whopping 9.2 runs per game. While Battista and Story are also first-and-second in the Empire 8 in SLG%,
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) finds himself fifth,
John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) 10th and May 11th.
There Goes My Hero: Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) capped off Utica's comeback efforts in game two against Canton on Saturday with a one-out, walk-off single. Over four games, the longest-tenured player on the team is hitting .308 while his four hits have jumped him into 12th all-time for the most in program history. He is also now ninth in program history with 117 games played.
It's a Cardy Party: Another start, another solid outing out of
Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) this past weekend. After tossing another six frames allowing no earned runs on Saturday, Cardone is now one of 11 qualified pitchers in Division III to have yet to allow an earned run. He's also 31st nationally allowing 4.8 hits per nine innings pitched while also ranking 12th in DIII with a .67 WHIP with some help from a 9:1 strikeout to walk ratio. The Whitesboro product also leads the Empire 8 with a .148 opponent batting average and his eight hits allowed is the fewest for qualified pitchers in the league.
About Oneonta: The Red Dragons are 5-13 overall this season after being swept by No. 7 SUNY Cortland this past weekend. The team is averaging around four runs per game while having a collective .254 batting average which is led by Anthony Gonzales' .309 average. Not much of a power threat, roughly 20 percent of the team's hits have gone for extra-bases including just two triples and one homer. On the mound, the pitching staff owns a 6.20 earned run average and a .300 opponent batting average. The team's main starter, Michael Losak, has a 2.88 ERA through five starts and 25 innings of work. Oneonta's pitching unit also owns nearly a 2:1 strikeout to walk ratio.
Looking Ahead: The Pioneers will open up Empire 8 play against Russell Sage College in its home opener on Saturday, April 2. Game one of the twin bill is set for 1 p.m.
