Pioneers Take Down Lasell to Pick Up First Win of the Spring
Fort Myers, FL (3/21/2013) – The Utica College baseball team got the proverbial monkey off its back on Thursday when it defeated Lasell College 5-3 to give the Pioneers their first win of the Spring at the Gene Cusic Classic in Fort Myers, Florida. UC lost another heart breaker in game one of the double header against the Lasers, 4-3.
The Pioneers are now 1-6 overall with one game remaining on Friday morning (10 a.m.) against Wisonsin-Oshkosh.
Sophomore Vincent Burillo went 2-for-7 with one RBI over the course of both games, while Nick Dunbar went 2-for-7 with two RBIs and one run scored. Nick Perkins went 1-for-5 with two runs scored in the double header and Tyler Young went 1-for-4 and also added two runs for UC.
Game Two - Utica 5, Lasell 3 - Final
Senior short stop Chris Podlucky went 2-for-4 with one run scored in the game two victory, while freshman Joseph Horning added a 1-for-3 day with one run scored.
Dunbar got the Pioneers on the board in the first inning after a fielder’s choice scored Young to give the Pioneers a 1-0 advantage. The Lasers punched right back in the bottom half of the inning when they tallied two runs to take a 2-1 lead.
Freshman Joe Horning scored on a passed ball in the second and junior captain Alec Choleva followed that with a triple, scoring Nick Perkins to give the Pioneers the lead right back, 3-2 in the second.
Lasell knotted the score at 3-3 in the fourth, but UC was able to put the game away with one run in each of the last two innings to earn the two run victory, 5-3. Matthew DeMartino scored Podlucky on a sacrifice in the sixth inning, and Dunbar drove in Young for an insurance run in the top of the seventh to seal the Pioneers’ first win of the year.
Sophomore Stephen Szatko pitched 4.2 innings for the Pioneers, striking out six and allowing just one earned run. Junior transfer Ronald Mannella relieved Szatko and closed the door on any Laser hopes of a comeback en route to his first victory as a Pioneer. Mannella did not allow a run and scattered two hits in 2.1 innings of work. He also added one strike out.
Game One - Lasell 4, Utica 3 - Final
Choleva got the start on the mound for UC, his second of the season, and allowed just two earned runs in the complete game, but the Pioneers could not quite crawl back from giving up three runs in the first two innings.
Four different players tallied one hit in the game for UC including Benjamin Hobaica, Vincent Burillo, Nick Dunbar and Rob Heath.
UC has now lost three games by just one run throughout its Spring Trip.