SCHENECTADY, NY - The Utica University baseball team fell in the Empire 8 Championship game to the second-seeded St. John Fisher Cardinals, 13-4, from Central Park on Saturday afternoon.
Andrew Salbinski (Essex, CT/Valley Regional) had a day at the dish, going 3-for-3 with a home run, a walk, two RBIs and two runs scored.
Josh Duval (Utica, NY/Proctor) had a pair of hits including a double while driving in a pair.
Derek Holmes (Blossvale, NY/Camden) (2B),
John Longeretta (Oriskany, NY/Oriskany) and
Jacob Scalise (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) all had one hit.
Five different Pioneers threw in the game with the loss going to
Jordan Henkel (Melville, NY/Walt Whitman).
Ben Freeman (Liverpool, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) led the team with 3.1 innings and gave up just one earned run (four total) on four hits, two walks and a hit batter.
Aidan McCue (Averill Park, NY/Averill Park) opened the game with two innings while
Jack Krug (Rotterdam Junction, NY/Canajoharie) (1 IP) and
Connor Ford (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) (0.1 IP) also pitched.
The Cardinals jumped on the board first in the bottom of the 1st inning however, the Pioneers answered right back in the top of the 2nd. With runners on first and second and no outs, Duval ripped a two-RBI double to put Utica up by one.
McCue held Fisher scoreless in the bottom of the 2nd however, the Cardinals eventually tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd on a bases-loaded walk. Following the walk, Henkel retired the next two batters to get out of the frame with minimal damage.
Leading off the top of the 4th, Salbinski put Utica back in the lead with one swing of the bat, connecting for his seventh home run of the year and a 3-2 edge. Fisher came back in a bag way in the home half with five total runs highlighted by a bases-clearing three-RBI double off the bat of James Murphy. Entering the 5th, the Cardinals led 7-3.
Salbinksi came through again for Utica in the top of the 5th with a two-out RBI single to trim its deficit to 7-4.
However, the Cardinals would go on to score twice in the bottom half, once in the 7th and three more times in the 8th while the Pioneers were held without a run over that time. The game entered the 9th with Fisher leading 13-4. Utica went down in order to close out the game as the Cardinals captured the Empire 8 title.
The Pioneers complete their 2024 campaign having won eight consecutive league games to qualify for the postseason while also having reached their third title game in the last four seasons.
