UTICA, NY - The Utica University softball team is set to begin a week of four Empire 8 games. The team will travel to face Russell Sage College on Wednesday, April 19 at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. before hosting Medaille University on Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
 
Follow Along: Those who cannot attend our home contests can tune in for live video and/or stats via https://bit.ly/2wtxUV5.
 
Last Time Out: The team fell in both games to St. John Fisher on Sunday afternoon by scores of 5-2 in game one and 6-1 in game two. Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls), Kylie Murray (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester), Cassidy Doiron (Beacon Falls, CT/Woodland Regional), Maddie Zulager (Moorpark, CA/Moorpark), Taylor Kraft (Loudonville, NY/Shaker), and Bailey McElwain (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker High School) all recorded one hit in the contest. Doiron had one RBI while Joss scored both of Utica's runs. In the circle, Jordyn Conte (Newport, NY/West Canada Valley High School) was credited with the loss after pitching six innings allowing five runs, two earned, on eight hits with four strikeouts. Lucia Gargiulo (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) relieved Conte and pitched the 7th inning allowing just one hit. Utica started off hot as Doiron singled up the middle to score Joss and give Utica a 1-0 lead. But Fisher responded by plating three runs in the 2nd inning capitalizing on a pair of errors. The Pioneers were clawing back as a hard-hit ball by Doiron resulted in an error that scored Joss and cut the Cardinal lead to 4-2 in the 5th. However, Fisher responded in the 6th inning adding an insurance run and held on for a 5-2 victory. Ainsley Evanetski pitched phenomenal for Fisher, inducing lots of soft contact and pop ups for Utica. Lauren Paul (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland), Maddie Zulager (Moorpark, CA/Moorpark), and Abigail Sacks (Colonie, NY/Colonie) each recorded a hit while Zulager recorded the lone Pioneer RBI. In the circle, Kylie Murray (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester) received the loss after pitching six innings allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts. Gargiulo relieved her to pitch the 7th and allowed three earned runs on four hits. The game was quiet for the first few innings in a pitcher's duel until Fisher singled up the middle to gain a 1-0 lead in the 3rd. Utica threatened in the bottom of the inning as Sacks rifled one into the left center gap, yet was stymied. The Cardinals tacked on one run in the 4th and 6th to take a 3-0 lead. Fisher then delivered a big blow with a two-run triple in the top of the 7th to take a 5-0 lead. The Cardinals added another run for a 6-0 lead before Zulager singled to bring home Paul in the bottom of the 7th inning. Fisher held on for the 6-1 win and series sweep.
 
Where We Stand: The team is tied for third in the conference as the new week begins. Utica remains an offensive powerhouse ranking top-three in the Empire 8 in batting average, hits, doubles, home runs, and RBIs.
 
Seniors: On Saturday, the Utica softball program will honor Brooke Catlin (Brewerton, NY/Central Square High School), Bailey McElwain (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker High School) and Abriana Wadley (Utica, NY/Proctor), who are each competing in their final season with the team. 
 
Socking it: Abigail Sacks (Colonie, NY/Colonie) has heated up recording at least one hit in four of her last five games and is batting .313 over the span. The sophomore has started to make harder contact and is driving the ball to all parts of the field including a scorching double to deep left center in game one against Fisher on Sunday, April 16.
 
Consistency is Key: Both Emily Joss (South Glens Falls, NY/South Glens Falls) and Maddie Zulager (Moorpark, CA/Moorpark) have been consistent at recording hits for the Pioneers and both rank top-five in the conference in batting average. Joss is slashing .434 which is third in the Empire 8 and Zulager is batting .385 which is fifth in the conference. Joss has recorded at least one hit in 20 of 26 games this season while Zulager has recorded at least one hit in 18 of 26 games. Joss also finds herself fifth in the country with 17 doubles on the year. Zulager is in the midst of a five-game hitting streak and has recorded a hit in 11 of her past 12 games. She put together an impressive week at the plate for Utica as she recorded at least one hit in seven of eight games played and was named the Empire 8 Player of the Week. In all, Zulager went 13-25 with two doubles, a home run and nine RBIs. In the team's game two win over Skidmore, she went 2-3 with a home run and five RBI while also coming across to score twice. This performance followed-up another 2-3 game as well. Later in the week, Zulager had back-to-back three-hit outings which came in game two against RPI on Wednesday and game one against Nazareth on Saturday. 
 
Murray Magic: Kylie Murray (Eastchester, NY/Eastchester) turned in a fantastic weekend in the circle allowing just two earned runs over 13 innings of work. The sophomore was dealing against Nazareth posting a line of seven innings, allowing one run, zero earned, on six hits with four strikeouts while picking up the win. The Eastchester, NY native then continued her success logging six innings against St. John Fisher allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits with two strikeouts. Murray's success will be crucial for Utica down the Empire 8 stretch.
 
Scouting Sage: The Gators are 13-13 with a 5-3 conference record which has them tied for second in the Empire 8. The team is coming off a huge weekend sweep of Empire 8 foe Nazareth with 3-0 and 7-3 wins. Ariana Papas leads the charge with a .419 batting average with 36 hits, 23 RBIs, and 10 stolen bases. Taylor Dicranian and Katelyn Rice are two more fine hitters each hitting over .322 with at least 27 hits and eight runs batted in. In the circle, Dicranian has a 3.86 ERA with a 6-8 record over 85.1 innings of work. Leah Madore sports a 3.75 ERA with a 7-5 and 80.1 logged innings.
 
Looking at Medaille: The Mavericks are 12-12 this season and sport a 3-3 Empire 8 record which has them tied for fourth in the conference. Medaille is coming off a series split against Elmira in which they took the second game 3-1. Brielle Wark leads the team with a .370 batting average and 27 hits. Breena Kormanisky and Destiny Avila are two more fierce hitters each recording at least 20 hits and eight RBIs. Komarnisky is the team's ace with a 2.86 ERA with a 6-3 record with two shutouts over 56.1 innings of work. Olivia Carr is another reliable arm with a 3.14 ERA over 35.2 logged innings.
 
Up Next: The team will head to Clinton, NY to face Hamilton College on Wednesday, April 26 in a doubleheader with game one beginning at 3:30 p.m.