ALBANY, NY - The Utica University baseball team took to the thruway on Wednesday afternoon as they traveled over to Albany to complete an unusual one and a half game outing against the Russell Sage Gators. Game one featured a restart matchup, with the two teams continuing in the fifth inning of a contest that was paused from earlier in the year. Tied 7-7 after five innings, the Gators grabbed a big advantage shortly after the restart, claiming a 24-14 victory to start off the set. In game two, Russell Sage once again raced out to an early lead, never looking back despite a late rally by the Pioneers. The Gators grabbed game two by an 18-13 final.
 
Game One - Russell Sage 24, Utica 14
 
The first game of the day began with the scoreboard reading 7-all heading into the fifth inning. The 7-7 scoreline was reached due to worsening weather conditions all the way back in early April. A wave of rain and wind caused both teams to lose the zone and give each other plenty of runs. By the time the game was postponed, the two teams had managed to plate seven runs each, leading to the unusual situation that was experienced on Wednesday.
 
For the Pioneers, their top three batters remained the same despite the 14-day break in between the fourth and fifth inning. All three hitters managed to finish the opening game with multi-hit outings as Jacob Scalise (Utica, NY/Whitesboro) and Ty Montrose (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each finished with three hits, while leadoff batter Justin Mazovec (Lake Grove, NY/Centereach) wasn't far behind with two. Further down in the lineup, catcher Micah Fiorello (Brooktondale, NY/Ithaca) also picked up from where he left off in the earlier outing, recording three hits in his four at bats to pair with a walk. The Pioneers managed to stack up 15 hits in the game, with nine of those base knocks coming during the five-inning stretch on Wednesday.
 
Scalise also managed to nab three RBIs in the game, tying for the team lead with RBI machine Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) who also picked up three RBIs. Fiorello finished with two RBIs to round out the players with multiple cash-ins during the first game.
 
Despite a big six-run seventh inning, the Pioneers couldn't trim down the sizeable lead that Sage had built up shortly after the restart got underway, eventually falling in the first matchup.
 
Game Two - Russell Sage 18, Utica 13
 
In the second matchup between the Pioneers and Gators, the orange and blue batted efficiently, racking up 10 RBIs in just nine total hits. Jacob Pian (Stony Point, NY/North Rockland) and Josh Duval (Utica, NY/Proctor) each grabbed a pair of hits in game two, while Pian and Scalise also had multi-RBI performances with both players plating a pair of Pioneer runners.
 
Nicholas Greene (Rome, NY/Central Valley Academy) threw well in relief during his fourth appearance of the year. The graduate student gave up a few runs upon his entry to the affair, but settled in superbly, shutting out the Gators over the final few innings while allowing just four hits and gathering two strikeouts.
 
Sage sped out to an early 14-0 lead, dealing an extensive blow to the Pioneers' hopes of a split in the early going. Down the stretch it was all Utica though, with the visitors putting up 12 unanswered runs and providing a tense final few innings in Albany. Russell Sage managed to weather the storm though, taking away an 18-13 win to sweep the regular season series.
 
Utica fell to 12-10-1 with the pair of losses and will look forward to a weekend series with Houghton. The upcoming series vs the Highlanders will prove to be a pivotal one, with the two teams separated by just four points (two wins) in the Empire 8 standings. Houghton will battle Brockport in a doubleheader on Thursday immediately preceding their three-game set with the Pioneers. Game one of the Utica vs Houghton series is slated for 5:00 PM this Friday.