ALBANY, N.Y. – The Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament, hosted by Russell Sage College, continues on Friday.
2024 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament, Hosted by Russell Sage College
Thursday, May 9 - Saturday, May, 11 | Central Park "A" Diamond | Live Stats | Video
Admission (Cash Only): $6.00 – Adults | $4.00 – Students and Seniors with ID | Free – Children under 12 and Russell Sage College students with ID
#1 RSC Gators (23-16/16-2 E8): Roster| Stats
#2 SJFU Cardinals (23-17/15-3 E8): Roster| Stats | Tournament Notes
#3 Utica Pioneers (17-23/11-7 E8): Roster| Stats| Tournament Notes
#4 Houghton Highlanders (16-20/9-9 E8): Roster| Stats
Tournament Schedule (Double Elimination):
Thursday, May 9
11:00 AM – Game 1: Houghton 5, GATORS 2 | Recap| Live Stats
2:30 PM – Game 2: No. 3 Utica vs. No. 2 SJFU | Live Stats
Friday, May 10
11:00 AM – Game 3: Utica at GATORS (elimination game) | Live Stats
2:30 PM – Game 4: Houghton vs. SJFU | Live Stats
6:00 PM – Game 5: Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 (elimination game) | Live Stats
Saturday, May 11
1:00 PM –Game 6: Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5 | Live Stats
4:30 PM – Game 7: If Necessary / Live Stats
Sunday, May 12
Rain Date as Needed
RSC Baseball in the E8 Conference Championship Tournament: The Gators have qualified for the E8 Championship Tournament in all three seasons as a program. RSC reached the finals in the 2023 edition.
Gator Bites: RSC secured its first Empire 8 Conference regular season championship by sweeping the three-game series from visiting Houghton on May 3 and 4...The Gators have qualified for the E8 Championship Tournament in each of their three seasons as a program, including advancing to the finals of the 2023 edition...RSC, which returned all ten starters from last season, entered the four-team Tournament with the top offense on the circuit in many metrics, including E8-bests of 349 runs scored, a .305 batting average, a .445 slugging percentage, and a .439 on-base percentage…Outfielder James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), a grad student, and junior pitcher Liam Doyle (West Sayville, NY/Connetquot) headlined the returnees…Lubanski, who holds the program single-season and career records for RBI, was named third-team All-Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association, while Doyle, a righty, topped RSC in innings pitched and ERA last spring…Junior outfielder Brendan Espinal (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) was selected the Empire 8 Conference Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 10…He slashed .559/.941/.595 during the team's Florida trip…Espinal totaled 12 runs scored, 10 RBI, 32 bases, and six doubles across the nine games…Espinal closed the regular season atop the Conference in batting average (.453), on-base percentage (.551) and on-base plus slugging (1.239)...Left-hander Matthew Denatale (Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck), a grad student, took home E8 Pitcher of the Week on three occasions, for the periods ending April 14, April 28 and May 5…The southpaw (5-4, 1 save) ranked second in the E8 with 57.2 innings pitched and five wins...He combines with Doyle and fellow grad student Joe Degroot (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) to be three of the top-six E8 leaders in innings pitched and wins...Each member of the starting trio also ranked in the top-eight among Conference hurlers in ERA...Degroot, also a left-hander, began the week with a conference-best six victories this spring (6-0), while Doyle entered the postseason with a 4-3 record...Junior infielder Jeff Stearnes (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union) closed the regular season strong in helping RSC clinch the hosting privileges for the E8 Tournament, earning Conference Player of the Week honors for the periods ending April 28 and May 5...He commenced the Tournament tops in the E8 in homers (10), RBI (52), slugging percentage (.725), while ranking second to Espinal in batting average (.413), on-base percentage (.512), and ops (1.237)...Junior outfielder Jared Russell (Colonie, NY/Colonie) began the week with a Conference-best 32 stolen bases, most by an RSC player in a single-season, while Lubanski led the E8 with 13 doubles and was tied for second with 47 RBI.
Gator Golf: The 19th Annual Gator Golf Classic will be held May 31, 2024. More Information: https://www.sagegators.com/information/Gator_Golf_Classic
