UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team claimed the season series against the Houghton University Highlanders following its doubleheader split on Monday. Houghton took game one 4-3 before the Pioneers claimed game two of the day and game three of the series 13-0. 
 
Houghton 4, Utica 3 (7 Inn.)
At the plate, Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) was the lone multi-hit performer as he went 2-for-3 with a double. Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton) finished the game with two RBI as part of a 1-for-2 outing with two walks drawn. 
 
James Roeschlaub (Auburn, NY/Auburn) got the start for Utica and pitched four innings allowing three runs, two earned, on 10 hits with two strikeouts and no walks issued. The lefty also displayed remarkable awareness on the mound as he picked off four runners at first base. 
 
The Highlanders jumped ahead early, scoring in the 1st inning before adding two more in the third with a two-run home run to left field. The Pioneers broke through in the bottom of the third thanks to a single by Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton) that brought in Jon Son and Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) to make it a 3-2 game. 
 
Roeschlaub tossed a clean 4th inning while Utica drew even in the home half of the frame when Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) came home on a passed ball. 
 
In the top of the 5th, Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) came on to pitch in relief and after walking the first batter he saw, kept Houghton off the board with three-straight strikeouts. In the bottom half, Utica loaded the bases with two outs however, Crossley fouled out to the catcher to move the game into the 6th still 3-3. 
 
Both sides went scoreless in the 6th until the Highlanders regained the lead in the top of the 7th with one out. With runners on second and third with one out, Ian Slate of Houghton drove one to Crossley in center looking for a sacrifice fly to extend the Houghton lead. However, after the catch, Crossley fired a cannon to home to cut down Zach Parr at home and end the half inning. 
 
The Pioneers could not get any offensive production in the bottom half as the team fell in game one, evening the series at one game apiece. 
 
Utica 13, Houghton 0 (7 Inn.)
Kooper Knabe (Cortland, NY/Cortland) dazzled in his fourth career start as the freshman pitched a complete game, one-hit shutout to move to 4-0 on the year. 
 
The offense shined as well, providing Knabe a 13-run cushion on nine hits. Nathan Yantz (Rochester, NY/Greece Arcadia) led the charge going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in while Antonio Martinez (Sunrise, FL/Western) went 2-for-4 with three RBI. Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) also drove in a pair of runs. 
 
Following a hitless first thrown by Knabe, the Pioneers put up six runs in the home half thanks to RBIs by Yantz, May and two by Martinez. 
 
Knabe got out of the 2nd allowing two baserunners by way of a walk and hit by pitch before allowing two more with a walk and a fielding error in the 3rd. It would be in the 4th inning where the freshman gave up his lone hit of the game, a leadoff single, before retiring the next three batters in order. 
 
The Pioneers hung another six-spot on the board in the 4th and added another in the 5th to lead 13-0 entering the 6th. Over his final two innings, Knabe faced just eight batters, both getting on base via walk, to close the door on his first career complete game shutout and aiding Utica to its series win over Houghton. 
 
Utica (12-6, 4-2 Empire 8) will remain home to host SUNY Cobleskill at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.