UTICA, NY - The Utica Baseball team is preparing to hit the road this upcoming week. Tomorrow, they are off to Albany to face the Russell Sage Gators in a massive midweek contest, before heading out to Alfred to face the Saxons for a big Empire 8 series. 

This Week's Action: The Pioneers will face the Gators on Wednesday, April 1st, at 3:00 PM over in Troy, NY, on the campus of RPI. Then, they will face Alfred University on Friday, April 3rd, at 4:00 PM and Saturday, April 4th, at 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM. After they return to Utica, the Pioneers will continue right on with their Empire 8 campaign, this time to finish out the series against SUNY Poly on Monday, April 6th, with game times and location to be announced later.

Interested spectators can follow Wednesday's matchup against the Gators with the following links:

Live Stats: https://www.sagegators.com/sports/bsb/2025-26/boxscores/20260401_ipr4.xml 

Stream: https://www.empire8network.com/russellsage/ 

Unfortunately, due to Alfred's newly constructed stadium, there will be no stream of this weekend's games. However, interested spectators can follow the live stats by following this link: https://gosaxons.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary 

Recapping Last Week's Action: The Pioneers had a busy week last week, starting off by resuming their series against Poly that got postponed the week prior. The Pioneers ultimately took a loss by a score of 8-6 that game, but there was no time to dwell as the team welcomed in SUNY Canton for a midweek doubleheader at Murnane Field. Utica won game one of the doubleheader behind Luca Logan's (Bayonne, NJ/St. Peters Prep) go-ahead homer in the bottom of the fifth, finishing with a final score of 6-3. The Pioneers looked set to sweep the doubleheader, but timely Canton hitting led to the Kangaroos scoring four in the top of the seventh inning to steal away to win.

After a few days to get their bearings back under them, the Pioneers hosted a conference doubleheader against Elmira. Utica showed out, scoring a combined 25 runs to the Soaring Eagles' four. The Pioneers took game one by a score of 13-3, with eight different Pioneers recording a hit, including a Ryan Smith (Wappingers Falls, NY/Beacon High School) homerun to walk off and run rule Elmira in the bottom of the eighth. Game two was the Brady Leichtman (Bay Shore, NY/St. John the Baptist Diocesan) show, as the freshman was dominant, going the complete seven innings, surrendering just one hit and one run, and striking out 10 Elmira hitters. The offense again was solid, as the team cruised to a 12-1 mercy victory.

Check out our full game recaps from last week to get caught up on the action:

Vs SUNY Poly (3/24): https://uticapioneers.com/news/2026/3/25/utica-baseball-drops-conference-game-one-against-suny-poly.aspx 

Vs SUNY Canton (3/25): https://uticapioneers.com/news/2026/3/28/baseball-pioneers-split-high-scoring-doubleheader-with-suny-canton-in-wednesday-tune-up.aspx 

Vs Elmira College (3/29): https://uticapioneers.com/news/2026/3/31/baseball-secures-sunday-sweep-thanks-to-enormous-offensive-output-and-leichtman-masterclass.aspx 

Captain Canada: Utica's addition of Toronto native Matthew Paolucci (Toronto, Ontario/Silverthorn Collegiate Institute) has been nothing short of spectacular to start the 2026 campaign. The sophomore is batting .415 with a .717 slugging percentage and a .470 on-base percentage, good for a 1.187 OPS. He has recorded 22 hits, including four home runs and four doubles, and 30 RBIs in 16 games started for the blue and orange. Paolucci has also recorded a hit in his last eight games played, and nine out of his last ten. 

Paolucci is currently seventh in the Empire 8 Conference for batting average, fifth in OPS, sixth in hits, second in home runs, and third in RBIs. He has won an Empire 8 Player of the Week award and, following this weekend, has won Empire 8 Rookie of the Week twice. He is the Pioneers' hopeful to win the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year award, which would be the squad's third in the last four years.

Freshman Phenoms: With 22 fresh faces in the Pioneer dugout, it's no surprise that the team has seen spectacular contributions from an array of freshmen. Ryan Smith (Wappingers Falls, NY/Beacon High School) has slotted in as the everyday third baseman and offensively, is blossoming into one of the best hitters on the team. Smith is currently second in the Empire 8 conference for OPS. The Wappingers Falls native is batting .355 with a 1.210 OPS, including 11 hits and two home runs in the 12 games he has appeared in. 

On the mound, Leichtman has pitched to a 2-1 record, with 27 strikeouts and a complete game in 22.2 innings. Leichtman is currently fourth in the conference in batting average against. Garrett Greaney (Ridgewood, NJ/Ridgewood) has got his career off to a solid start as well, pitching to a 2.89 ERA with 11 strikeouts in two starts and 9.1 innings pitched. Tyler Brown (Sayville, NY/Sayville High School) has also seen his fair share of starts for Utica, as he has recorded 11 strikeouts in 10.1 innings pitched. Luke Barrett (Mansfield, NJ/Warren Hills Regional) is developing into a very solid backend reliever, as he has thrown 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball with three strikeouts in two appearances.

Scouting Russell Sage: The Gators enter tomorrow's matchup with a record of 14-3 in 2026, including a perfect 3-0 start to Empire 8 conference play after sweeping a series against Houghton. Leading the way offensively for Sage is Joseph Karpierz, as the senior infielder is batting .446 with a 1.162 OPS, with 29 hits in 17 games played. On the mound for the Gators, Aiden Green has thrown the ball well to start the year. The senior has thrown 25.2 innings with a 3.86 ERA with 21 strikeouts to seven walks. 

Evan Grimes is also a name to look out for, as the dual-threat senior is hitting to a .345 clip and pitching to a 3.96 ERA. Sage returns lots of talent from the team that went all the way to the Empire 8 Championship series, and the Pioneers will be in search of a statement win to start gaining even more traction.

Scouting Alfred University: The Saxons are off to a 2-17 start and a 0-5 start in conference play, taking series losses to both Houghton and SUNY Poly. Offensively, Ben Croote is leading all hitters with a .254 average and a .713 OPS, with 15 hits in 16 games started. On the mound, Alex Beaird has been the workhorse, throwing 18.1 innings with a 6.38 ERA, 20 strikeouts, and 10 walks.

Looking Ahead: Following the Sage and Alfred games, the Pioneers will come back to Utica to finish up the series against the SUNY Poly Wildcats on April 6th. Game times are to be announced. After those games, the Pioneers will play host to the Keuka Wolves on Wednesday, April 8th, at 2:00 PM before hosting a series against St. John Fisher on Saturday, April 11th, at 1:00 and 3:00 PM and Sunday, April 12th, at 1:00 PM.

Be sure to pay attention to the Utica University Athletics social media pages for any scheduling changes!