COBLESKILL, NY - The Utica University baseball team fell short of a 9th inning comeback in a 7-6 loss on the road to the SUNY Cobleskill Fighting Tigers on Tuesday. 
 
At the plate, Jack Bono (Frankfort, NY/Frankfort-Schuyler) was the lone member of the team with multiple hits as he went 2-for-5 with a run scored. Nine others had one hit in the game, Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) doing so with four walks and three runs driven in. John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) plated a pair of runs while John Longeretta (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) had one RBI on a solo home run. 
 
Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) made his first career start on the mound and held his own over five innings of work. Out of five runs allowed, May was credited with just one earned over four hits given up and three walks issued. He also struck out seven batters, two of which looking. Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) tossed the final three innings in which he allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while also striking out six. 
 
The Pioneers struck first in the top of the 1st inning. Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) walked to open the game and found his way to third one batter later. With still no outs, John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) brought Crossley home on a sacrifice fly to give the team a 1-0 lead. However, that would be all in the 1st for the team. 
 
Cobleskill came back and evened the game on a wild pitch in the bottom half before Utica regained the lead on a bases loaded walk worked by Crossley in the top of the 2nd. Once again though, the Tigers came back, this time to take the lead. 
 
Their first run came across on an E6 while the second came in on what turned out to be a successful pickoff play. With runners on the corners and two gone, the Pioneers caught the base runner at first in a rundown. However, prior to getting him out, the runner at third came home to score prior to the third out for a 3-2 lead. 
 
In the top of the third, Utica kept with the pace of the game and came right back. John Longeretta (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) got a good piece of a pitch and drove the ball over the wall for his first home run of the season which tied the game 3-3. 
 
From there, the sides settled in. May escaped the 3rd and 4th innings unharmed while the Pioneers' offense went quiet through the 5th inning. Cobleskill snapped its two-inning scoring drought with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 5th, just one of which earned. 
 
Utica cut its deficit in half in the top of the 6th on a John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) RBI single as the game remained 5-4 through the middle innings as relief pitcher Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) kept the Tigers offense in check. That was, until the bottom of the 8th when Cobleskill tacked on a pair of insurance runs to lead 7-4 going into the 9th. 
 
The Pioneers put themselves in great position to stage a comeback in the bottom of the 9th as the first three out of four batters reached base to open the frame. Following a Steve Sclafani (North Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale) strikeout, Crossley stepped in and delivered a two-RBI single to left field to bring the team within a run. 
 
Andrew Salbinski (Essex, CT/Valley Regional) came in to pinch hit with the tying run on second base however, he flew out to center field to end the game. 
 
Utica (22-10, 13-2 Empire 8) will face a quick turnaround as the team makes the short trip to SUNY Poly at 4 p.m. on Wednesday.