The St. John Fisher College baseball team fell in the opening game of the Empire 8 Conference Championships to Utica College, 7-3, today at Dugan Yard. The Cardinals will face Stevens Institute of Technology Friday morning at 10 a.m. in an elimination game. The winner of that game will play again at 4 p.m. against the loser of the Ithaca/Utica game that faces off at 1 p.m.
The last time Utica beat Fisher was back on April 10, 2011, in a 9-7 contest to split a doubleheader.
Fisher falls to 31-10 on the season and the Pioneers improve to 9-23-1.
Utica jumped on the board early in the top of first inning as it scored five runs on six hits. The Pioneers loaded the bases on a walk and back-to-back singles before Matthew DeMartino doubled down the right field line to clear the bases to make it 3-0. Two more singles in the frame pushed Utica's final two runs across before the inning came to a close.
The Cardinals got one of the five runs back in the bottom of the second as
Frank Carnevale was hit by a pitch with one out. He later moved to second on a balk before a groundout to first put him 90-feet away. Catcher
Victor Konstantinovsky's single through the left side scored Carnevale to put Fisher on the board.
Fisher made it a three-run game in the bottom of the fifth.
Malcolm Kelsey started the inning off with a single to left field and later moved to second on a groundout to the first baseman. First baseman
Scott Eisenmenger's RBI-single to left center scored Kelsey to make it a 5-2 game.
In the bottom of the sixth, the Cardinals scored their final run of the game as
Joe Simmons singled to left on the first pitch he saw. He then moved himself into scoring position as he stole both second and third. Second baseman
Evan Ryan pushed Simmons across the plate on his RBI-single up the middle.
The Pioneers used four walks, three hits and a hit by pitch to tack on a run in the top of the sixth and seventh innings to finalize its scoring for the day.
William Winsman picked up his second win of the season for Utica, while teammate Joshua Webb earned his first save of the year.
Fisher's starting pitcher
Jim Dawson was tagged with his first loss of the season as his record fell to 8-1. He threw five innings, allowing six runs while striking out two.
Both
Mike Roman and Kelsey tallied two hits apiece to lead the Cardinals at the plate. As a team, Fisher registered ten hits and three stolen bases for the contest.
