UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team dropped both of its games to St. John Fisher University on Saturday by a 19-1 (7 Inn.) score in game one and 13-7 in game two of the twin bill. 
 
Game 1: Fisher 19, Utica 1 (7 Inn.)
The Cardinals combined for 19 runs on 11 hits, 13 walks and four Pioneer errors while Utica was held to one run on two hits. Matthew Kanyuk (Mellville, NY/Hills East) connected for a 2nd inning single through the left side of the infield while Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton) notched his Empire 8 leading fourth home run of the year. 
 
Dominick Tallarino (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy) made his collegiate debut on the mound and helped keep the Cardinals at bay. The Rome Free Academy graduate tossed four scoreless frames with just one hit allowed and three walks while striking out four. 
 
Fisher's runs came in bunches with two in the 1st, five in the 2nd, eight in the 3rd and four more in the 7th. All five runs in the 2nd inning came with two outs 
 
Tallarino entered in the 3rd and allowed two runners to come across home however, both of which belonged to Aidan McCue (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park). After that, the freshman finished off the inning while facing just two over the minimum between the 4th and 6th innings. 
 
Story's long ball came in the 3rd inning as he took a belt high fastball and deposited it deep over the right field fence for the team's lone run of the contest. 
 
Game 2: Fisher 13, Utica 7
Derek Holmes (Blossvale, NY/Camden) turned in a 2-for-4 effort at the plate in game two that included an electric grand slam and a double. He drove in five runs in all and scored twice himself. Micah Fiorello (Brooktondale, NY/Ithaca) also had two hits, one of which going for two bases, with a run scored. Josh Duval (Utica, NY/Proctor), Jack Scanlon (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) and Jacob Pian (Stony Point, NY/North Rockland) each had one hit. Lance Berger (Lindenhurst, NY/Saint Anthony's) drove in a run as well. 
 
Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) pitched well over five innings as the sophomore gave up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts. Tim Martin (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls Lima) was credited with the loss despite a solid 2.2 innings of work where he allowed four runs on five hits and three walks. He also struck out a pair. Austin Rhodes (Wappingers Falls, NY/Kennedy Catholic) and Peyton Newton (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport) combined for the final 1.1 innings and five runs allowed.
 
Fisher jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning on a Brian Norsen one-out single. With runners on second and third with no outs, Czternastek dug deep and retired three out of the next four batters to escape with minimal damage. 
 
The sophomore pitched clean 2nd and 3rd frames as well to keep the Pioneers within one run going into the bottom of the 3rd. That's where the team found its rhythm. 
 
With one out, Fiorello doubled and advanced to third on a base hit by Duval. The next batter, Scanlon, hit a routine ground ball to third base that took an odd hop and was misplayed to allow Fiorello to score from third base and tie the game. 
 
Two batters later, Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) walked to load the bases with two away and Duval coming to the dish. The lefty sat on a 3-1 count and launched the ball deep over the right field fence for a grand slam and a 5-1 Utica lead. 
 
The Cardinals went on to respond with one run in the top of the 4th and two in the 5th, Czternastek's final one of the game, while the Pioneers maintained a 5-4 edge at the midway point. 
 
Utica got two runs back in the bottom of the 5th thanks to an RBI double by Holmes and a Berger RBI on a fielder's choice. 
 
Martin took over on the bump for Utica in the top of the 6th with a 7-4 advantage. He held the Cardinals to one run in the top of the 6th in an inning that could have resulted in more before keeping them scoreless in the 7th to preserve a 7-5 lead entering the 8th. 
 
However, that's where the tides turned in Fisher's favor. 
 
The Cardinals scored three runs in the inning, all of which with two outs, to take an 8-7 lead before adding five insurance runs in the top of the 9th for a comfortable 13-7. The Pioneers' final six batters went down in order as Fisher capped off the series sweep. 
 
Utica (5-14, 0-5 Empire 8) will be off until next weekend when the team travels to Houghton, NY for a three-game series against Alfred University as well as a makeup game against Houghton. The Pioneers will play the Saxons twice on April 6 at 1 and 4 p.m. before playing them again once on April 7 at noon followed by the single game against Houghton.