Utica, N.Y. - The SUNY Poly baseball team fell to the Utica University Pioneers by a score of  11-5. Tristan Allen had a productive day at the plate, going 2-5 and driving in three runs. The Wildcats are now 13-20 on the season. 

HOW IT HAPPENED: 

The opening innings saw both teams struggling to capitalize offensively. SUNY Poly notched a two-out single from Luke Landis in the first, but couldn't bring him around. Utica also left a runner stranded after an error in the bottom half. Both sides were kept off the board through two innings, despite a pair of SUNY Poly miscues.

Utica broke through in a big way in the third. After loading the bases with one out, Lance Berger started the scoring with an RBI single to right. Mike Rockwell and Michael Flint followed with run-scoring hits, including a two-RBI single from Flint to cap a four-run frame and give the Pioneers a 4–0 lead.

SUNY Poly mounted a response in the fifth, stringing together singles from Brody Liddy and Daniel Flaherty, but a caught stealing at second base derailed the rally. Utica tacked on four more in the bottom half—three unearned—capitalizing on a pair of SUNY Poly errors and clutch hitting hits to build an 8-0 lead. 

The Wildcats came alive in the sixth. A walk and an error set the table, and Tristan Allen delivered a two-run double to get the Wildcats on the board. Liddy added an RBI groundout, and Will Orlando followed with a run-scoring single to cut the deficit in half, 8–4. They inched closer in the seventh on another RBI single from Allen after a miscue and a walk extended the inning, bringing it to 9–5.

A sac fly by Duval added one in the sixth for the Pioneers, and another in the eighth padded the lead to 11–5. SUNY Poly had chances late, but a double play in the eighth and a strikeout to end the ninth halted any hopes of a comeback.