HOUGHTON, NY - The Utica University baseball team secured a spot in the Empire 8 Conference Tournament after splitting its road doubleheader against the Houghton College Highlanders on Thursday evening.
Houghton 7, Utica 6
The teams both went down quickly over the first two innings before Utica struck first in the 3rd.
Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro ) connected for a two-out double and went on to steal third base thereafter. Two batters later,
Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) singled to center to bring Fasolo home.
Tyler Catalfamo (Albany, NY/Colonie) surrendered his first run in the bottom half of the 3rd before Houghton scored twice more in the fourth and once in the 5th for a 4-1 lead entering the 6th. There, the Pioneers loaded the bases with one out with
Zac Cronk (Saratoga Springs, NY/Saratoga Central Catholic) up to bat. He was able to leg out a single to first base to bring home
Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) from third.
Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) drove in the second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly while Utica tied the game 4-4 on a throwing error.
Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) came in to pitch and escaped the bottom of the 6th unharmed. This allowed the Pioneers to take the lead in the 7th frame on another RBI single by McCullough that scored Fasolo from second. McCullough eventually scored on a passed ball as the team led 6-4 entering the final half inning.
The Highlanders got to
Brian Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) early as the first three hitters of the inning reached base. The fourth batter, Ian Slate, hit a bases-clearing walk-off double for the home team to take game one.
Catalfamo tossed five innings for Utica, allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits with two walks and strikeouts as he earned a no decision. At the plate, McCullough and Cronk had two-hit performances with McCullough responsible for two runs driven in.
Utica 4, Houghton 1
Starting pitchers
James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn HS) and Jeremey Wilcox went toe-to-toe over the first three innings as Utica was held hitless while Houghton collected two.
Jack Bono (Frankfort, NY/Frankfort-Fort Schuyler) came through with a leadoff triple in the 4th inning and scored on an RBI fielder's choice by
Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional). McCullough then scored when
Ryan Cardone (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) reached on an error before he too scored on an obstruction call on the third baseman. Meanwhile, Roeschlaub held the Highlanders at bay until the 7th inning when he surrendered his only run.
Utica added another run in the 9th on an RBI single by Bono before
Brian Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) earned his first save of the season after a shutdown frame as the Pioneers took game two.
Bono recorded two of Utica's three hits and McCullough had the other. Both had one RBI as well. Roeschlaub pitched seven frames allowing one run on seven hits with two walks and nine strikeouts. He now sits at 96 strikeouts for his career.
Travis Grogan (Middletown, NY/Middletown) and Dinnen combined for the final two innings on the bump and held Houghton to no runs.
Utica (17-14, 10-8 Empire 8) will host Houghton on Saturday for what will be the Pioneers' senior day. The Pioneers can clinch the No. 2 seed outright with one win and one Keuka loss or two Keuka and one Russell Sage loss.
