UTICA, NY - The Utica University baseball team travels to Elmira College to face the Soaring Eagles in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 29 at 1:00pm and 4:00pm. The single game will be played on Sunday, March 30 at noon.
 
Follow Along: Elmira video link can be found here and live stats can be found here.
 
Last Time Out: Down 4-0 to start Monday's matchup (March 24)  that was halted early this past Saturday, the Pioneers shook off the deficit, notching two, four-run innings to come back and defeat the Wildcats in dramatic fashion. Down 7-4 to start the bottom of the ninth, a Pioneer rally would be capped off by a two RBI walk-off single courtesy of shortstop Steve Sclafani (North Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale). Sclafani shined in the Monday madness, putting together a three-hit, four-RBI performance that was cemented by his walk-off, 2 RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. The shortstop showcased impeccable offense out of the nine spot in the Pioneers' batting order, using two different two RBI singles to center field to produce half of the runs for the home side. Sclafani shot the team to a last-second 8-7 victory with his base knock in the ninth, keeping the team undefeated in Empire 8 play. Despite all this offensive success, the veteran Sclafani didn't even finish with the team-high in hits on the day. That honor belonged to third baseman Tanner Warren (Mohawk, NY/Central Valley Academy), who acquired a quartet of base knocks to finish with an impressive four-for-five outing. The speedster Warren, who slotted in one spot ahead of Sclafani in the eight hole, got the offense going in the bottom of the second, launching a line drive out to right field and securing a double to get the offense going. The Pioneers would pick up 14 hits after the double, of which Warren produced three, also racking up two RBI. Sclafani and Warren shouldered the load on the offensive end, combining for six RBI. Justin Mazovec (Lake Grove, NY/Centereach) gained the only other RBI in the game for the Pioneers, coming in clutch during the ninth-inning comeback as he got one just over the infield to cash in the first run of the final frame. Mazovec finished with two hits. Both him and Pioneer newcomer Ty Montrose (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) recorded a pair of hits each to round out the multi hit-getters for the orange and blue. On the mound, Jordan Henkel (Melville, NY/Walt Whitman) got the pseudo-start, going a solid four innings as he allowed just two runs and picked up two strikeouts. The Melville man kept the Wildcats at bay while the Pioneers picked up the pace on the offensive end, as he only allowed a few runs towards the end of his elongated appearance.
 
When It Matters Most: Rockwell leads Utica with a .412 batting average, 16 runs, 13 hits and a .488 on-base percentage in 34 at-bats. He has at least one hit in four out of five games played and one run in at least nine out of 10 games. The veteran Scalfani has six hits in 10 at-bats in three games against Emerson, Skidmore and Poly. Against Poly, he walked it off in the bottom of the ninth, driving in two runs. Lance Berger (Lindenhurst, NY/Saint Anthony's) has a team-leading eight walks in 27 at-bats. He has seven runs, six hits and one triple.
 
Can't Catch Me: The Pioneers are 29 for 33 on stolen base attempts, which is second in conference play. Berger is seven for nine, DaShawn Hutchinson (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is five for five, Ty Montrose (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is four for five and Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) is four for four, five other players have at least one.
 
Behind the Plate: Jacob Scalise (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) has been playing a clean game thus far behind the plate, committing zero errors in nine games played. He's done a great job positionally not letting any balls get past him. In the batter's box, Scalise has been streaking, collecting a hit in eight of nine games played with a .406 batting average in 32 at-bats.
 
On the Bump: Kooper Knabe (Cortland, NY/Cortland) leads all Utica pitchers with a 2.40 ERA in 15 innings pitched. He's allowed only four runs against 53 batters faced. He has 12 strikeouts, recording at least two in all games played. His most came against Delaware Valley and Poly where he notched four in each game. Peyton Newton (Weedsport, NY/Weedsport) has been a player to watch from the bullpen for the Pioneers as he's allowed zero earned runs in 7.1 innings pitched. 

About Elmira College: The Soaring Eagles are 5-10 overall and 0-3 in Empire 8 action. They most recently played St. John Fisher on March 22 and 23, dropping all three matchups by a combined score of 45 to 10. Elmira last won on March 18 against Penn College 7-6. Kaden Bolt has a team-leading .323 batting average and a .516 slugging percentage in 31 at-bats. Brett Warden has a .306 batting average and leads the Soaring Eagles with a .919 OPS. He has at least one run in 11 out of 15 games and leads the team with 11 walks. Connor Stone has three home runs and seven runs in 34 at-bats. Logan Pizzullo leads all pitchers with 19 innings pitched and a 3.79 ERA against 75 batters. Ryan Wiser and Nicolas Miller have struck out nine batters each. Wiser has faced 74 batters in 16.2 innings pitched and Miller has faced 51 batters in 11 innings pitched.
 
Against Elmira: The Pioneers are 20-9 all-time against the Soaring Eagles. Utica is 9-1 in the last 10 matchups, with their last loss coming in 2022 when Elmira defeated Utica 12-3. Utica has scored at least 10 runs in the last five meetings. 

Looking Ahead: Utica hosts Russell Sage College for a weekday doubleheader on Wednesday, April 2 at 2:00pm and 5:00pm.