UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team split its home opener with the Russell Sage College Gators on Saturday. The Pioneers took game one 12-2 while Sage responded with an 11-2 win in game two for its first-ever Empire 8 win.
Utica 12, Sage 2
After scoring runs in the 1st and 2nd innings, Utica put a six spot on the board in the 3rd frame to jump out to an 8-0 lead.
Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton HS) knocked in a pair of runs on a triple and scored on a
Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) single to center.
Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) drove home Muentener on a double to center before
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) brought him home on a three-bagger.
Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) drove home the final run of the inning on a dribbler in front of home plate.
Utica starting pitcher
James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn HS) cruised through his first three innings of work before surrendering his only two blemishes in the 4th inning on a two-RBI double. The Pioneers got the two runs back for him plus one in the home half thanks to a McCullough double,
Zac Cronk (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) sacrifice fly and a May sac fly. May scored on a wild pitch in the 6th inning as well on a wild pitch to go ahead 12-2 and ultimately end the game.
Roeschlaub went six innings allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five on his way to his second win of the year.
Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro ) tossed the final frame allowing one hit over four batters. At the dish, McCullough went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton HS) (1-for-3) and May (1-for-4) drove in two runs each and both scored twice as well.
Sage 11, Utica 2
With the score 0-0 entering the 3rd inning,
Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) fell into a jam. With one out and a runner on second, a base hit up the middle pushed a run across for Sage, marking the first earned run allowed by the sophomore this season. The Gators ended their half of the inning with two runs.
Utica cut its deficit in half in the 3rd after an RBI groundout to third base off the bat of
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro). Sage scored another run in the 5th inning and remained ahead 3-1 entering the 8th inning.
The Gators bats took off in the 8th. With
Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) on the mound for Utica, Sage sent seven runs across to go ahead 10-1 before adding one in the 9th on an error by May at shortstop. Muentener singled home a run for Utica in the bottom half of the 9th but the Pioneers' bats were silenced afterwards as Sage took game two, 11-2.
Cardone went six innings allowing three runs on five hits while striking out seven in the losing effort. Mangino tossed 1.2 innings allowing six runs, four earned, on four hits.
Ben Hladun (Ballston Lake, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake ) threw the final 1.1 innings and surrendered two runs, none earned, on two hits. At the plate,
Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro ) went 2-for-4 while Crossley and Muentener drove in a run each while both finished with one hit as well.
Utica (7-6, 1-1 Empire 8) and Sage will meet again at the Utica Baseball Field for a doubleheader on Monday with game one set to begin at 1 p.m. Sage will serve as the home team in both games.
