Score: Elmira College 12, Utica College 2
Records: Elmira (1-13, 1-4 E8), Utica (7-7, 1-3 E8)
Location: Clinton, N.Y. -- Loop Road Baseball Complex

CLINTON, N.Y. -- The bats finally came alive for the Elmira College baseball team, as the Soaring Eagles secured their first win of the season over Empire 8 Conference foe Utica College by a 12-2 final score on Friday afternoon at Hamilton College's Loop Road Baseball Complex in Clinton, New York.

Elmira snapped a 13-game skid to open the 2018 campaign by posting season highs in runs scored (12) and runs batted in (11), while tying highs for hits and extra-base knocks with 12 and five, respectively. Seven different Soaring Eagles logged a hit, four of whom smacked multiple hits.

Bryce Plante '18 led the Purple and Gold with a trio of hits, going 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs. Conor Bawiec '18, Jack Thistle '18, and Joey Florio '20 each finished with two hits, while Tommy Fogarty '20 went 1-for-3 with a game-high four RBIs. This production came against Utica's ace, Griffin Baur, who coughed up a season-worst nine runs and suffered his first loss of the year.

Bawiec was the first to light up the scoreboard, as he tripled and gave EC a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch in the top of the second. While the lead didn't last long – Utica scored both of its runs in the bottom of the third – the Soaring Eagles responded by putting up crooked numbers in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings.

In the top of the fifth, Elmira blew the game open with RBI singles off the bat of Plante and Bawiec, followed by a two-run double slugged by Fogarty. The two-bagger gave the Soaring Eagles a 7-2 lead. Eddie O'Donnell IV '18 and Plante both doubled in runs in the following inning, as the gap widened to 10-2 in the sixth.

In addition to his work at the dish, Bawiec tossed a gem with 8.0 innings and five strikeouts. Both of the runs the senior righty allowed in the third were unearned in his longest outing of the season. In the ninth, freshman Taber Carter '21 set the Pioneers down in order for his second consecutive scoreless appearance.

In Their Own Words…
Head Coach Corey Paluga on getting the first win of the season against an Empire 8 opponent…
"The team played really well with contributions from several guys throughout the lineup. It was refreshing to see our team play loose today, even more important against a conference opponent."

Coach Paluga on Elmira's effort at the dish on Friday afternoon…
"We've talked so much about simplifying our approach and the team executed that approach very well today."

Coach Paluga when asked about carrying the momentum from Friday's win into the final two games of the series vs. Utica on Saturday…
"It's very important that we keep a similar approach in game one tomorrow like we did going into the game today. The next game needs to be the focus, and we cannot look past any team."

News and Notes

• The win over Utica marks the first of the 2018 season for Elmira, which improved to 1-13 overall.
• The Soaring Eagles are 6-4 all-time against the Pioneers, the best record against any opponent in the first four seasons of baseball at EC.
• Elmira posted double-digit hits and runs for just the second time this spring.
• The four doubles slugged by EC tied a single-game season-high.
• Plante tied a season high with three hits.
• Plante has reached base safely in 11 straight contests.
• Fogarty's four RBIs equal the team's single-game best in 2018.
• In the last three games, Fogarty has hit .364 with two doubles and six RBIs.
• Rudolph picked up a hit in his ninth consecutive game and extended his on-base streak to 14 in a row.
• Bawiec lasted 8.0 innings on the mound in his longest start of the year.

Up Next
The Soaring Eagles will continue their three-game E8 series against the Pioneers on Saturday, March 31, with a doubleheader at Hamilton College's Loop Road Baseball Complex in Clinton, New York. The opening game begins at 12:00 p.m.