Pioneers Unveil New Scoreboard; Drop Home Opener

The Alfred State Pioneers dropped a close game against Houghton in a tough 8-7 loss in their home opener. Before first pitch, Coach Mike Armstrong said a few words, beore unveiling the Pioneers new scoreboard named after former Alfred State Coach Tom Kenney. Coach Kenney was the first and is the winningest coach in program history with over 600 career wins. Coach has won multiple regional championships during Alfred State's time in the NJCAA era and built the foundation for the Alfred State Pioneer Baseball program. PICTURES HERE

The Pioneers fell behind early 2-0 in the third inning. Alfred State strung together some good at-bats in the bottom of the third and the fourth. Singles from Tyler Petery and Owen Lansing, both to left field, started a rally that saw the first Pioneer runs. A mistake from Houghton's right fielder, led to the Pioneers scoring 2 runs on a sacrifice fly from Sam Dickerson and a fielder's choice by Bryson Rigsby. The bats stayed alive in the fourth with a grand slam from Tim Holler giving us a 6-2 lead. Houghton rallied in the top of the sixth inning and scored five runs, giving them a 7-6 lead. The Pioneers got back a run in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI double from Nick Serce. With the game tied at 7, Houghton scored one more in the eighth. Brody Burdett came in for a relief apperance late in the game, and held the Highlanders to 2 baserunners in 1.2 innings of work. Burdett tallied 4'ks and held Houghton at 8 runs. Alfred State couldn't score in the last two innings. Houghton came out victorious in the back-and-forth battle.

The Pioneers take the field again at RIT. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.