UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team will begin the 2022 season looking to build off of its first ever conference championship series appearance last season. The Pioneers will travel to New Jersey to face Yeshiva University in a double header at Diamond Nation on Sunday March 6 with game one starting at noon. 
 
Follow Along: Live stats for Sunday's games will be available at https://yumacs.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary. For all home games this season fans can watch live or follow along with live stats through https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/. 
 
Looking Back: Utica ended the 2021 season with an 18-17 overall record while going 9-8 in Empire 8 Conference play. The year ended on a high note with the program's first-ever finals appearance in the E8 conference tournament. The Pioneers defeated No. 2 seeded Houghton College in three games in the semifinals, all on the road, to advance to the championship but eventually fell to the top-seeded St. John Fisher Cardinals. The 2021 Utica team set numerous single season program records including runs scored (297), hits (374), walks (200) and recorded strikeouts (257). Starting pitcher Griffin Baur (New York Mills, NY/New York Mills), who has since graduated, was responsible for 75 of the team's strikeouts which set a new individual single season record. Baur left Utica as the all-time leader in wins (17), appearances (44), starts (40), innings pitched (196) and strikeouts (197). Other pieces from 2021 such as Matthew Leviton (South River, NJ/South River), Daniel Parslow (Fonda, NY/Fonda-Fultonville), Sean Vanegas (Bronx, NY/Mt. St. Michael) and Brendon Sarnowski (Scotia, NY/Scotia-Glenville) have all since graduated as well. 
 
Schedule at A Glance: Utica's schedule carries 21 non-conference games, seven of which will be played in Florida from March 13-16. Utica will play a doubleheader against Muhlenberg from Davenport, FL before taking on Thomas College in a doubleheader in Aurburndale, FL. The Pioneers will play one more game in Auburndale against Dickinson College prior to playing New York University at IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL. Besides Yeshiva, the other 12 non-conference games will include home-and-homes against SUNY Poly, SUNY Cobleskill and SUNY Oneonta, as well as a three-game set against SUNY Canton from Onondaga Community College, one game against Ithaca College as well as the Jackie Robinson game at Hamilton College on May 2. The Pioneers begin Empire 8 play on April 2 and will play four games (two home and away) against Russell Sage, Houghton, Keuka, Elmira and St. John Fisher for a total of 20 conference matches. The schedule will be subject to change throughout the season. 
 
What's Up, Skip?: Returning for his ninth season as the head coach of the Utica Pioneers is Joe Milazzo. He has led the Pioneers to four conference tournament appearances over his eight-year tenure. Assistant coaches for the Pioneers include Zack Landy, Cory Haggerty, Dan Bollana, and Luke Schulte. Landy will begin his second season as the team's pitching coach while Cory Haggerty enters his fourth season with the Pioneers as hitting coordinator. Bollana is entering his ninth year as assistant baseball coach and Schulte joins the Utica College baseball team for year one as an assistant coach after spending the last two seasons on the team. 
 
Seasoned Veterans: As they prepare for the 2022 season the Pioneers will lean on an experienced pool of position players to build off of an impressive 2021 season at the plate. After being named to the ABCA/Rawlings All-Region First Team last season, graduate student Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) returns to the Pioneers looking to lead the offense once again. Battista touted an impressive .442 batting average last season which ranked second in the E8 conference, 38th nationally and was the fourth highest batting average in a single season in program history. Battista was also second in the E8 and 27th in Division III with a .552 OBP (On Base Percentage) which set a single season program record as well. Senior utility player Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) also returns to the Pioneers after a season where he batted an impressive .430 average which ranked fourth in the E8 and 59th nationally. Muentener also recorded a .536 OBP which ranked third in the conference right behind Battista. The shortstop was also named to the Empire 8 All-Conference Second Team last season.
 
Perfect Pieces: Utica will also return John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) after an impressive season in which he played in all 35 games recording a .398 batting average. Son was named the E8 second team 1st baseman in the 2021 season while ending the year as the team leader with four home runs as well as with 37 runs batted in. Zac Cronk (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) will man the infield once again but as last season showed at the plate he was the toughest player to strike out in the entire E8. Out of 97 trips to the plate, Cronk had only been sat down a mere five times (about one strikeout every 21 at bats) which was a top-50 mark in the nation. Cronk was also one of two second baseman named to the second team All-Empire 8 last season. Outfielder Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton HS) returns as he was a key piece in advancing the Pioneers to the E8 final last season. He earned E8 rookie of the week honors the week of that playoff run, driving in five runs and homering in the first game of the semifinal. Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) returns at third base for the Pioneers after touting a .273 batting average in 31 games as a freshman in 2021. Cardone also doubles as a relief pitcher and tossed about 15 innings for the Pioneers last year. Another Whitesboro high school native returning for the Pioneers is outfielder Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro). Crossley had the game winning catch to advance the Pioneers into the E8 Final last year. Also back in the outfield for Utica is Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional). As a junior last season, he hit .299 and worked 19 walks in 77 at-bats and finished the year with an 87.5 fielding percentage. 
 
Taking the Mound: The Pioneers had an impressive year on the bump ranking top 3 in the E8 in ERA (earned run average), runs allowed, and strikeouts. Senior James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn HS) will be called upon to take over the "ace" role left behind by Baur. With a record of 3-3 in the 2021 season, Roeschlaub pitched 36.2 innings for the Pioneers. The senior ranked first in the E8 in strikeouts per nine innings last year, which was also a top-25 mark in the country. The leader of the Pioneers bullpen will be Brian Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas), who was one of three relief pitchers in the conference to be named E8 first team in the 2021 season. Dinnen appeared in 10 games for Utica last season, compiling a 1-1 record and one save over 18.2 innings on the bump. Travis Grogan (Middletown, NY/Middletown) is also gearing up for another season on the hill after appearing in nine games last season with six starts. Other notable pitchers returning for the Pioneers include Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) and southpaw Tyler Catalfamo (Albany, NY/Colonie), who tossed 12.1 innings and totaled a 1-0 record out of the bullpen last season. 
 
Backstop Crew: Noah Barber (Cortland, NY/Cortland) will be controlling the game behind the plate once again this season. Barber is coming off of a 2021 campaign in which he recorded a .305 batting average in 59 at bats while totaling three home runs and 16 runs batted in. Junior Nathan Yantz (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) and graduate student Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) are also expected to round out the catching tandem in 2022. Fitzgerald enters the year as the longest tenured Pioneers, having played in 113 career games, tied for 10th all-time in program history, while having collected the 13th most hits in program history (103) over his Utica career. 
 
New Threads: There are some notable newcomers to the Pioneers starting with Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw), who is a SUNY Cortland transfer. In two seasons as a Red Dragon he collected 24 at-bats and committed just one error in 19 games. May will be a dual option as an infielder and pitcher for the Pioneers. Freshman pitchers Jack Krug (Amsterdam, NY/Canajoharie) and Ben Hladun (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake ) will also look to step in and make an immediate impact on the mound. In all, there are 23 fresh faces joining the 2022 Pioneers looking to help the team make another run at the Empire 8 crown. 
 
About Yeshiva: The Maccabees will go into Sunday 2-1 on the early season with a pair of wins against John Jay College and a loss to Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. In its first three games, Yeshiva has been out-scored marginally 15-14 while Judah Blonder and Ari Rosenberg lead qualified hitters with a .273 batting average each. Max Leibowitz is also a perfect 4-for-4 on stolen base opportunities. On the bump, Dovie Soloman has made two starts while Adam Zahler earned a win in his only start against John Jay. In 10 innings of work, Soloman owns a 7.20 ERA while Zahler is rocking a 4.50 ERA after six innings of work. 
 
Up Next: Utica will play another neutral site game on March 9 against Cazenovia College from Onondaga Community College in Syracuse, NY.