HOUGHTON, NY - The Pioneers returned to the southern tier today to take on the Houghton Highlanders in a high-stakes rubber match for an edge in the Empire 8 playoff race. In the critical third clash, Houghton once again utilized a few big innings to take control in the contest. They rode these crooked numbers to another victory over the Pioneers, taking the series and climbing to within two points of the four spot which the visitors currently occupy.
 
Ty Montrose (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) led the Pioneers on offense with a three-hit performance, establishing himself at the plate in his first series against Houghton. He also picked up an RBI in the action. Montrose was one of six Pioneers who grabbed an RBI in the contest, with the lineup spreading the wealth well on Saturday as Justin Mazovec (Lake Grove, NY/Centereach), Jacob Scalise (Utica, NY/Whitesboro), Lance Berger (Lindenhurst, NY/Saint Anthony's), Michael Flint (Rome, NY/Rome Free Academy), and Kody Czternastek (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro) each plated one run. Flint and Czternastek supplied some energy at the bottom of the lineup, with both players nabbing a pair of hits to round of the players with multiple hits in game three. All but two batters in the Pioneer lineup walked away with hits on the afternoon as the team racked up 11 hits and six runs.
 
The Pioneers did a great job stringing together hits and going station-to-station, although they were held to just two extra base hits, with Houghton doing good damage control to hold the powerful bats of Utica.
 
Houghton had three multi-run innings in the game, scoring three in the first, five in the fifth, and two in the seventh to round out their scoring.
 
Other than those three big innings, the duo of Austin Rhodes (Wappingers Falls, NY/Kennedy Catholic) and Jack Krug (Rotterdam Junction, NY/Canajoharie) held the Highlanders to zero runs and just two hits. The two hurlers were just a few bounces away from limiting damage and giving the team a chance to seize victory towards the end.
 
The Pioneers still stand as the four seed in the Empire 8 standings, sitting two points ahead of both Houghton and SUNY Poly. The Pioneers have 16 points while the Highlanders and Wildcats both have 14. Utica will have a chance to create some separation next week with a midweek series against Keuka. That series will begin on Tuesday with two games scheduled between the Pioneers and Wolves in Keuka Park. Those games start at 1:00 PM. The Pioneers will return home for the series finale on Wednesday.