UTICA, NY - Pioneer baseball finally returns to Utica this week after a lengthy offseason, followed by a nine-game road stretch to start the 2025 campaign. The orange and blue will defend home field this week with a mid-week matchup against Skidmore this afternoon before welcoming SUNY Poly this weekend for a three-game set to begin Empire 8 Conference play. The Skidmore game will be a standalone contest, while Saturday's meeting with SUNY Poly will be a doubleheader. The series finale against SUNY Poly is currently slated for a 4:00 PM start on Monday. Here's what the schedule looks like:
 
Wednesday, March 19th - 4:00 PM - vs Skidmore
Saturday, March 22nd - 1:00 PM - vs SUNY Poly (Doubleheader)
Saturday, March 22nd - 4:00 PM - vs SUNY Poly (Doubleheader)
Monday, March 24th - 4:00 PM - vs SUNY Poly
 
Streaming Details for this Week's Matchups: You can catch all the action by heading to the "Watch" tab on our athletics homepage or also by following the links below! Keep an eye on our social media pages for any scheduling updates heading into the weekend slate.
 
Stream link for Wednesday's game vs Skidmore:
Stream links for Saturday's doubleheader vs SUNY Poly:
Stream link for Monday's matchup vs SUNY Poly:
 
Follow Along with Live Stats: The Wednesday matchup against Skidmore and Monday's meeting with SUNY Poly will have live stats like normal. You can follow along with those games by clicking the "Live Stats" tab under each game on our baseball schedule page or also by clicking the links below.
 
Live stat link for Wednesday's game vs Skidmore:
Live stat link for Monday's matchup vs SUNY Poly:
 
For Saturday, you can follow along with the doubleheader action by heading to the Utica Baseball Gamechanger page, where the team will be providing live statistics during the opening Empire 8 game of this season. You can view that page by heading to the link below:
 
Live stat/gamechanger link for Saturday's doubleheader vs SUNY Poly:
 
RussMatt Rundown: The Pioneers headed south for spring break this past week, participating in seven non-conference showdowns during the five-day gauntlet. The orange and blue emerged from this streak of challenging contests with a solid 4-3 record during their business trip, settling into the season and having some standout individual and team performances to solidify their tactics going forward.
 
Mike Rockwell (Liverpool, NY/Cicero) and Jacob Scalise (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) paced the Pioneers on offense down in the Sunshine State, with each playing reaching double figure hits over the seven game schedule. Rockwell dominated to the tune of 11 hits and seven RBI, also showcasing his speed on the basepaths by contributing 11 of the team's 62 total runs scored. The incoming transfer from Division I LeMoyne displayed his class, slashing superbly by posting a .524 average, .542 on-base percentage, and .667 slugging percentage.
 
Scalise, on the other hand, supplied a steady stream of solid contact, notching 10 hits and three RBI. The Pioneers' main man behind the dish also drove the ball on multiple occasions during spring break, recording three doubles on the week.
 
Scalise fell just short of the team-lead for doubles though, as Whitesboro native DaShawn Hutchinson (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) narrowly beat him out with a team-high four doubles over the seven game span. Hutchinson had a standout week in his own right, logging seven hits and four RBI. He also had a spectacular showing in game two against Emerson, picking up four hits in just that contest alone. Hutchinson participated in five games during the trip, further solidifying his solid numbers as he grabbed nearly a double & RBI per game.
 
Some young talent also got it done during the spring break spell, with two Pioneer newcomers achieving Empire 8 Rookie of the Week recognition…
 
Rookie Renaissance: The Pioneers picked up not one, but two Empire 8 Rookie of the Week Awards wins during their time down in Florida. The orange and blue endured multiple awards cycles while down in the Sunshine State, grabbing back-to-back Rookie of the Week nods courtesy of Ty Montrose (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) and Dean Ennis (Middle Island, NY/Longwood).
 
Montrose achieved the first rookie honor to start the week. He put together an absurd statline during the trio of weekend contests to start the spring break trip, cruising in all different corners of the game as he helped power the Pioneers on every occasion in their two big victories over Delaware Valley and Penn State Altoona. In the first two contests of the weekend, Montrose supplied massive firepower to the Pioneer lineup, grabbing four hits and a team-high six RBI over that span. Montrose posted excellent slashing numbers in the initial two contests, owning a .500 average, .444 on-base percentage, and .625 slugging percentage. If that wasn't enough, just minutes after having a solid showing in the lineup for the Pioneers in their first game vs Altoona, Montrose took the mound to start game two and shut down a Lions lineup that racked up 18 runs the game before. The local product from Whitesboro went five innings, allowing just three runs and four hits as he picked up his first win of the season. Montrose fanned four and kept Altoona at bay early, allowing just a single run over the first four innings. Thanks to his standout play on both offense and defense, Montrose captured his first career Empire 8 accolade.
 
Next week, it was Ennis' turn. Ennis picked up a big win against Emerson College in his first collegiate appearance on the mound during the doubleheader. The newcomer from Middle Island went five innings in his Pioneer debut, shutting out the Lions over the five-frame spell and doing enough to pick up his first career win in the effort. Ennis allowed five hits, but managed to bounce back each time, fanning five batters to escape any danger as he grabbed the shutout victory. Ennis' superb start pushed the Pioneers to a big 4-3 victory, getting the newcomer's career off to an excellent start. He proved to be the focal point in a big victory down in Florida during the spring break slate, helping the Pioneers pick up some momentum towards the end of their stay down south.
 
About Skidmore: The Thoroughbreds are 6-4-1 overall with no games played in Liberty League play yet. The team is coming off a series-split against Alfred State College on March 15. Skidmore won the first game 6-5 and dropped the second in 12 innings, 12-11. Outfielder Ewen Donald has started all 11 games and leads the team with a.429 batting average. He's totaled 21 hits, 16 RBI, and 14 runs in 49 at-bats. Donald has at least one hit in every game with his most coming against Alfred St (three). His best performance came against Dean College on March 14 where he posted three hits, two doubles and three RBI. Chase Siegel leads the Thoroughbreds on the mound with a 4.02 ERA and a 2-0 record. He's allowed eight runs, seven earned all in 15.2 innings pitched. Quinn Hocom has a team-leading 26 strikeouts, his most came in one game against Wisconsin-Luthern (14). 
 
Utica is 11-8 all-time against Skidmore. Skidmore won the last meeting in 2004, 14-6 and 7-4 in a doubleheader.
 
About Poly: The Wildcats are 7-4 overall with no Empire 8 games played. Poly won their last three games against SUNY Canton (16,6 and 19-9) and one against Minnesota Morris (8-5). Quinn Hills leads Poly with a.543 batting average and a .914 slugging percentage. He has 14 runs, 19 hits, 11 RBI in 35 at-bats. Derek Menechino is second on the team with a team-leading seven walks. The team is second in conference play with 25 doubles, second in slugging percentage (.510), fourth in hits (98), and fifth in home runs (4). On the mound, Connor Marcello leads the Wildcats with 12.2 innings pitched and a 4.26 ERA. He's given up seven runs, six earned and 14 strikeouts against 48 batters.
 
Utica is 22-14 all-time against SUNY Poly. Utica is 8-2 in their last 10 matchups with the only Poly wins coming last season (9-5 and 18-13).
 
After the SUNY Poly Series: The Pioneers will travel to Syracuse for a midweek doubleheader vs Canton next Wednesday before returning to conference play next weekend with a three-game set against Elmira.