UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team prepares for a five-game week, four of which will be played at home. The Pioneers will travel to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Tuesday for a 4 p.m. makeup game against the Engineers before hosting SUNY Poly on Wednesday at 4 p.m. The team will then return to E8 play to host Elmira College during the weekend. The sides will play a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday before wrapping up the three-game series at noon on Sunday.
Follow Along: RPI will provide live stats through
https://rpiathletics.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary while a watch link has not yet been made available. Fans can keep up with live video and stats for all home games by using
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/utica/.
Last Time Out: The team completed its series sweep of the Keuka College Wolves after taking both games of Saturday's doubleheader. Both games were played at Houghton University. In the team's 12-1, seven-inning win in game one
John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) led the way going 4-for-5 with three RBI.
Joe Battista (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls) also drove in a trio of runs as part of a 3-for-4 showing.
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) launched his first home run of the season while going 2-for-4 with two RBI total.
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) and
Matthew Kanyuk (Mellville, NY/Hills East) had multi-hit games as well. On the hill,
James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn) went the distance to pick up his third win of the year. Over his seven innings of work, Roeschlaub allowed just one run on six hits to go with three strikeouts and no walks. In the 11-4 game two win,
Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the offense with three hits in five trips to the dish while driving in a run.
John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) had another multi-hit game including a home run while
Joe Battista (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls),
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) and
Tyler Jennings (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) each had a pair of hits as well.
Matthew Kanyuk (Mellville, NY/Hills East) also led the team with two RBI. On the bump,
Kooper Knabe (Cortland, NY/Cortland) picked up his fifth win of the year as the freshman has yet to lose a game in his collegiate career. He tossed six innings in which he allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out two and walking none.
Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) pitched the 7th and 8th innings allowing just one run while May threw a scoreless 9th.
Can't Stop, Won't Stop: Kooper Knabe (Cortland, NY/Cortland) continued his remarkable start to his collegiate career this past week. He added two more wins to his record this week, improving the freshman to 5-0 to begin his collegiate career. In two conference games, Knabe tossed 13 innings allowing just two earned runs over seven hits with eight strikeouts. In his win over Houghton on April 3rd, Knabe tossed a complete game, one hit shutout which included six strikeouts. In his win over Keuka on April 8th, the freshman went six frames allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits with a pair of strikeouts and zero walks issued. He also faced just three batters over the minimum in the game. Knabe's five wins are tied for the Empire 8 lead while his 1.69 ERA not only leads the E8 but also ranks 44th in Division III.
Johnny Boy: John Son's (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) bat has been scorching hot all season and this past week proved no different. He sported a .458 batting average (11-24) with four doubles, a home run, as well as five RBI and 10 runs scored. Son's week was capped off during the team's sweep of Keuka as over the three-game series he went 9-15 at the plate with five extra-base hits, five runs driven in and seven runs scored. He also notched his 100th career hit during the weekend, becoming the 18th player in program history to do so. On the year, the senior is fourth in the E8 batting .403 while his 30 RBIs rank second in the league.
Here Comes Joey Bats: Joe Battista (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls) is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak and has started to heat up. The graduate student is batting .400 during his hitting streak and has four multi-hit games during the span. Battista is batting .306 on the year with 19 hits, four doubles, three triples, and 15 RBIs. His bat is a huge presence in the middle of the lineup and his hot stretch during Empire 8 play has been crucial to the team's success.
About RPI: The Engineers are 15-9-1 this season and sport a 3-3 conference record. The team swept SUNY Purchase over the weekend and is riding a two-game winning streak before clashing with Utica on Tuesday, April 11. The offense is very balanced with five players with at least 15 RBIs and is led by Martin Marintchev who is batting .433 with 39 hits, 12 doubles, two home runs, and a team-leading 28 RBIs. Julian Scapa and Aidan Hicks are two more reliable bats sporting at least .371 averages with at least six doubles and 19 RBIs. On the mound, Thomas Neuman sports a 3.75 ERA with a 3-2 record over 36 innings pitched. Ben Koomey and Rylan Wade are two more reliable arms with each logging three wins and over 25 innings pitched.
A Look at Poly: The Wildcats are 7-14 this season and sport an 0-3 record in conference play. The team is on a four-game losing streak and will clash twice with SUNY Cobleskill before facing Utica on Wednesday, April 12 at 4 p.m. Alexander Bonacci is the team's top bat sporting a .421 average with five doubles, three triples, two home runs, and 15 RBI. Paul Barber and Ryan Pelton are two more big bats as each have at least 14 RBIs while Pelton has a team-leading four home runs. Aaron Kifer and Carter Romansky are the team's top pitchers, each logging under a 3.99 ERA with at least 23.2 innings pitched. Jack Montanye is another serviceable arm as he has made three starts this season with four relief outings.
Scouting Elmira: The Soaring Eagles are 6-16 this season and sport a 3-6 Empire 8 record. The team is riding a three-game winning streak having swept Medaille over the weekend. Matteo Salvati is the team's top hitter with a .411 batting average with 30 hits, nine doubles, and 12 RBIs. Brett Warden and Marco Macri are both batting at least .282 with at least two doubles and six RBIs this season. On the mound, Jarek Podest and David Kruis have logged the most innings with each pitching at least 23.2 innings. The two arms have appeared in at least seven games this season with over 25 strikeouts.
Up Next: Utica will travel to Hamilton College at 4 p.m. on April 18 for the Jackie Robinson Game.
