ROCHESTER, NY - The Utica University baseball team held off third-seeded Houghton University in the first round of the Empire 8 Tournament with an 15-8 win on Thursday. 
 
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) and Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) powered the offense with six combined hits and eight combined RBI's. Crossley had three hits in five trips to the dish with five runs driven in while Fasolo drove him three runs while also going 3-for-5. Joe Battista (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls) and Tyler Jennings (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) each had a two-hit game and Steve Sclafani (North Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale) drove in a pair of runs. 
 
On the hill, Kooper Knabe (Cortland, NY/Cortland) picked up a no decision after allowing five runs, four earned, on eight hits over three innings. He also struck out three batters and walked one. Winning pitcher Jake Mangino (Sayville, NY/Sayville) tossed three frames and allowed two runs on five hits and a walk. Dylan Sullivan (West Orange, NJ/Columbia) finished the final three innings and allowed just one run on one hit and two walks with a pair of strikeouts en route to a save. 
 
The Highlanders jumped on the freshman Knabe early with three runs in the top of the 1st inning for an early edge. While Utica went silent in the home half, Knabe settled in to keep Houghton off the board in the top of the 2nd. 
 
In the home half, the Pioneers jumped ahead thanks to a four run frame, all of which coming with two outs. The first two Utica hitters were retired before Brendan May (McGraw, NY/McGraw) worked a walk, Tyler Jennings (Liverpool, NY/Liverpool) was hit by a pitch and Micah Fiorello (Brooktondale, NY/Ithaca) got on due to catcher's interference to load the bases. Sclafani brought home a run on a walk while Crossley was hit by a pitch to bring home the second run. Fasolo followed with a two-RBI single to right for a 4-3 lead after two full. 
 
Houghton went on to score the next four runs of the game over the 3rd and 4th innings to go back ahead 7-4. However, the Pioneers responded back in the bottom of the 4th and 5th innings. 
 
A two-out error by Houghton in the bottom of the 4th allowed two more Pioneers to score to bring the team's deficit to one run before three runs scored for Utica in the 5th. Sclafani, Crossley and Fasolo were responsible for bringing the runs to let Mangino come back out to the mound in the 6th with a 9-7 edge. 
 
Mangino tossed a clean 6th before Sullivan entered in the 7th, also keeping the Highlanders scoreless. Battista paved the way for two more Utica baserunners to score in the bottom half before another four-run inning took place for the team in the 8th. 
 
There, Crossley cleared the bases with a three-RBI double to the left field gap before coming home himself on a John Son (Mellville, NY/Half Hollow Hills) RBI groundout. 
 
With a seven run advantage, Sullivan put the game to an end in the 9th to keep Utica in the winners' bracket. 
 
Utica (24-13, 13-5 Empire 8) will take on top-seeded St. John Fisher in the second round of the Empire 8 Tournament at 1 p.m. on Friday. The winner will advance to Saturday's Empire 8 Championship game while the losing team will play the winner of fourth-seeded Russell Sage College and third-seeded Houghton in the loser's bracket final at 4:30 p.m. on Friday.