PITTSFORD, NY - On a rainy day in Rochester, the Pioneers battled St. John Fisher in the first of three games between last year's conference finalists. Saturday's scheduled doubleheader developed into a single, nine-inning matchup as the second game was shifted to Sunday's slate. In Saturday's series opener, the Cardinals charged ahead early on, weathering a couple big innings by Utica in the latter stages of the matchup as the hosts grabbed a 10-6 win over the orange and blue.
 
Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) stayed hot at the plate despite the loss, with the Pioneer shortstop picking up from where he left off after a six-RBI performance last weekend. In this outing, Utica's middle man grabbed two key hits and scored a run to provide some energy in the lineup. Czternastek ensured that the Pioneers' success out of the nine-spot would continue on, as he, along with fellow infielder Steve Sclafani (North Massapequa, NY/Farmingdale), have made sure that the bottom of the Pioneer lineup has been nothing to sneeze at over the past few weeks.
 
Justin Mazovec (Lake Grove, NY/Centereach) also found an opportunity to continue his stretch of success in clutch moments, with the graduate player tacking on an RBI triple in the eighth inning to give the team life in the final few outs.
 
Offensive replacement Eric Schulteisz (North Babylon, NY/North Babylon) nabbed the only other RBI for the Pioneers on the following at bat, sending out a sacrifice fly to cash in Mazovec from third.
 
Luca Logan (Bayonne, NJ/St. Peters Prep), Michael Flint (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), and Josh Duval (Utica, NY/Proctor) each nabbed a hit to round out the base knocks for the Pioneers. Duval crossed home twice in the outing, with Flint and Ty Montrose (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each notching a run scored.
 
Connor Ford (Swedesboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) was solid in relief during the final few innings as he held the Cardinals to just two hits and zero runs scored, grabbing six quick outs with one K.
 
The Pioneers managed to stick around in the matchup despite allowing the Cardinals to capture a commanding 7-1 lead heading into the fifth inning. The visitors took advantage of some Fisher miscues in the fifth, plating three runs off of an error and an errant pitch by the Cardinals. Fisher would respond with three unanswered runs in the next pair of innings to regain their lead at 10-4 heading into the final stages of the standalone matchup. Utica would use some late-game adjustments to notch two more runs in the eighth, but ultimately couldn't generate enough juice to climb all the way back as they ended up falling short by a 10-6 final.
 
The Pioneers dropped to 11-7-1 on the year and 6-3 in conference play. Fisher jumped ahead of Utica with the win in Saturday's showdown, although the Pioneers could once again hop their direct conference competitor in the standings with a couple key wins in tomorrow's doubleheader.