UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team will make its trip to Florida this weekend for seven games at the 2024 RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The team's first game will come against Keystone College at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 9.
Follow Along: RussMatt Baseball will provide a video service for all games of the invitational through
https://russmatt.bethebeast.com/eventliveplus/65a978223ce815088a0eeddc. The service costs $69.95 with the addition of sales tax if applicable.
Florida Schedule: The Pioneers will take on Keystone College at 12:30 p.m. on March 9 before taking on Dickinson College for a doubleheader on March 10 starting at 9:45 a.m. On March 11 the team will play the University of Minnesota Morris at 4:15 p.m. followed by single games against Ohio Northern University (3/12 at 1 p.m.), University of Saint Joseph (CT) (3/13 at 1 p.m.), and Stockton University (3/14 at 2:30 p.m.).
Last Time Out: The Utica University baseball team completed a sweep of the Yeshiva University Maccabees on March 3 with a 16-3 win in game one and a 24-1 win in game two from Silver Lake Park Fields.
Game 1: Utica 16, Yeshiva 3 (7 Inn.)
The Pioneers racked up 16 runs, 12 of which came in the 6th inning, over 10 hits and 11 walks.
Jack Scanlon (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) paced the offense going 4-for-5 with five RBI, two doubles and a three-bagger.
Dom Fasolo (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) (2-3, 3 RBI) and
Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton) (2-3) also finished with multiple hits.
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) reached base safely in each of his five trips to the dish with one hit and four walks.
Andrew Salbinski (Essex, CT/Valley Regional) also went yard in the game with a three-run blast. Utica sent a plethora of arms to the mound in the game as
Kooper Knabe (Cortland, NY/Cortland),
Austin Rhodes (Wappingers Falls, NY/Kennedy Catholic),
Joshua Pesnel (Latham, NY/Christian Brothers Academy),
Tyler Catalfamo (Albany, NY/Colonie) and
Justin Notargiacomo (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) tossed one inning each with
Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) throwing two. Pesnel allowed the only three Yeshiva runs of the game, two of which being earned, on three hits. Knabe gave up one hit in the first as well to round out Yeshiva's four base knocks. Utica jumped on the board in the 1st inning on a Scanlon triple that brought in Crossley. Two innings later, Fasolo sent home Crossley and
Steve Sclafani (North Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale) on a double to put the team up 3-0. However, Yeshiva tied the game in the bottom half on a two-RBI double and a balk. With no damage from either team in the 4th, the Pioneers reclaimed the lead in the 5th on a balk that allowed Fasolo to come home from third. Then came the 12-run 6th inning that put the game out of reach for Yeshiva. Scanlon (3 RBI),
John Longeretta (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) (2 RBI), Salbinski (three-run home run) led the charge for the Pioneers to create separation, leading to the 13-run win.
Game 2: Utica 24, Yeshiva 1 (7 Inn.)
The Pioneers touched home 24 times in the game two win.
Jacob Pian (Stony Point, NY/North Rockland) totaled three hits with a double and two RBI & runs each.
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) went 2-for-2 with a pair of walks, three runs scored and four stolen bases.
Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton) belted his second home run of the season as part of a 2-for-3 outing.
Lance Berger (Lindenhurst, NY/Saint Anthony's) was the final Pioneer to finish with multiple hits as he also had two with three RBI.
Derek Holmes (Blossvale, NY/Camden) drove in a team high five runs while
Micah Fiorello (Brooktondale, NY/Ithaca) and
Tom Ziskin (Amsterdam, NY/Amsterdam) had two each. On the hill,
Aidan McCue (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) tossed two shutout innings allowing just one hit and three walks with a strikeout.
Connor Ford (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) and
Ben Freeman (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) tossed hitless 3rd and 4th innings.
Jack Krug (Rotterdam Junction, NY/Canajoharie) allowed just one run in his lone inning of work before
Christian Cicchetti (West Babylon, NY/West Babylon) and
Tim Martin (Honeoye Falls, NY/Honeoye Falls Lima) closed the door in the 6th and 7th innings, respectively. Martin struck out the side in his inning. Utica's big innings came in the 2nd and 3rd in which the team put up 13 runs combined. In the six-run 2nd and already up 1-0, Story connected for a solo home run before Fiorello drove in two on a double to make it a 4-0 game.
Justin Mazovec (Lake Grove, NY/Centereach) brought home a run on a ground out while Holmes scored two on a base hit to go into the home half up 7-0. Then in the 3rd, Beger (two), Scanlon (two), Holmes (one), and Pian (two) helped the Pioneers hang a seven spot on the scoreboard to take a convincing 13-0 lead into the bottom half. From there, Utica would out-score the Maccabees 11-1 over the final four innings to ease away with the win and series sweep.
Mr. 150: After a pair of victories on Sunday, Head Coach
Joe Milazzo picked up his 150th career win. Over his 11 year tenure at Utica, Milazzo has accumulated a 150-163-2 record with winning seasons across the last three years. He has led the team to two conference championship appearances in the last three years and six trips to the Empire 8 Tournament.
New Kid on the Block: Jack Scanlon (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute) was awarded Empire 8 Player of the Week after a fantastic weekend. Over Sunday's doubleheader vs Yeshiva, Scanlon went 5-8 with two doubles and a triple while collecting seven RBI's, two runs, and a stolen base. He has been a huge addition to the team so far with excellent play at the shortstop position and a steady bat in the lineup, hitting .389 with seven hits through five games.
On Base Machines: Outfielder's
Joe Crossley (Marcy, NY/Whitesboro) and
Jason Story (Hilton, NY/Hilton) have been hard to keep off the bases thus far, each totaling a .579 on base percentage through five games. Crossley didn't get out in the team's doubleheader against Yeshiva, going a perfect 3-for-3 with a triple and six walks. Story went 4-for-6 on the day with his second home run of the year along with two walks and a hit by pitch. The duo has also combined for eight stolen bases thus far as well.
Fantastic Czternastek: After a year hiatus from baseball,
Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) returned to the mound against Yeshiva this past weekend. The sophomore looked as if he hadn't missed a beat in his return, facing the minimum over two hitless innings while striking out three batters. He will continue to be a go-to arm out of the pen for Utica.
Florida Opponents: Utica heads down to Florida for the RussMatt Invitational where they will play seven games against six opponents. The team's first game is against a Keystone College team that has a 1-3 record to start the season yet still finds itself receiving votes in the D3baseball.com poll. The Keystone Giants are hitting .333 as a team along with a 7.59 collective ERA. Next up are the Dickinson Red Devils. Dickinson is off to a great 4-0 start with excellent numbers on both sides, hitting .357 with a team ERA of 4.09. The team then plays the Minnesota Morris Cougars. The Cougars are 2-2 after a trip to California where they hit a modest .276 and had a 8.45 ERA. Utica's next opponent is Ohio Northern, a team who played last year in Florida and split in a double header. The Polar Bears are 2-1 thus far, with a .305 average and six home runs through three games along with a 3.46 team ERA. Following this matchup, the team faces off with the University of Saint Joseph Blue Jays. The Blue Jays have struggled thus far, going 1-4 while hitting .222 as a team with an 11.47 ERA. Utica concludes their trip with a matchup against the Stockton Ospreys. Stockton is 4-3 thus far with a team average of .320 and a 5.30 team ERA.
Up Next: Utica will return to New York following the trip and will make the short trip to Hamilton College at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4.
