UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team held off a strong comeback attempt by the Russell Sage Gators to win game three of the Empire 8 Tournament Semifinals, 11-7, and advance to its second consecutive conference championship.
The game started with a thrilling play by
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) in center field and
Matthew Fitzgerald (Clinton, NY/Notre Dame) at home. With one away and a runner at third following a triple, Crossley made a catch on a shallow line drive to him. With the runner from third tagging, Crossley came up throwing to Fitzgerald who caught the ball on a one-hop off the pitchers mound and positioned himself in front of the plate to slap the tag and keep the game scoreless.
The Pioneers used that momentum in their first at-bats. With two aboard and one away,
Joe Battista (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) smoked the first pitch he saw to the right center field gap to bring Crossley home from second and move
Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro ) to third.
While Sage evened the game in the top of the 2nd on an error, Utica tallied three more in the bottom half.
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) started the inning with a triple and scored easily on a Fitzgerald double down the right field line. Fitzgerald scored on a
Shamariah McCullough (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) sacrifice bunt attempt that turned into a throwing error by the third baseman. McCullough then scored on a bunt single by
Michael Muentener (Fairview, NJ/Cliff Side Park) to make it a 4-1 game after two.
Pioneers starter
Tyler Catalfamo (Albany, NY/Colonie) got out of the top of the 3rd inning on a heads-up unassisted double play by May at shortstop. With runners on first and second with one away, May gloved a line drive back at him and then beat the runner on second back to the base to double up the Gators.
The sides traded runs in the 3rd, 4th and 5th innings as the game entered the bottom of the 6th with Utica up 6-3. A fielding error at shortstop brought home the team's seventh run before Battista roped another two-RBI double to right field to extend Utica's lead to 9-3.
However, Sage battled back in the top of the 7th. The team rattled off two runs on five hits before the first out could be recorded which turned out to be a ground ball double play that left a runner on third base for the Gators. May came on to pitch in relief of
Brian Dinnen (Cortlandt Manor, NY/Walter Panas) and while the Gators scored two more in the inning, May was able to limit the damage to enter the bottom half up 9-7.
The Pioneers were able to score twice more in the 7th thanks to a one-out RBI single by Fitzgerald that scored May from second base and a sacrifice bunt by
Steve Sclafani (Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale HS) to bring home McCullough from third.
Sage threatened in the u8th after the first two batters reached base. However, a strikeout, 5-3 ground out and another strikeout prevented the team from scoring. Utica was also retired in the 8th without any further run support to set up an 11-7 lead entering the final inning.
The Gators once again applied pressure with the first two men reaching base. May was able to strike out the next batter while the second out was recorded on a line drive to right. With two away, Joe Salerno III of Sage chopped a ball between third base and home. May was able to take a good first step off the mound to secure the ball, make the throw and send Utica back to the Empire 8 Conference Championship.
May led the team at the plate going 5-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. He also tossed 2.1 scoreless innings to finish the game. Muentener, Fasolo and Battista all had two-hit outings as well. Battista also led the team with three RBI while Fitzgerald had two.
Utica will travel to St. John Fisher for the best-of-three championship series that will begin on Friday, May 13, for a rematch of the 2021 championship. Game times are TBD.
