ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College outfielder Brendan Espinal (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) was selected for the Empire 8 Conference 25th Anniversary Baseball Team.

Espinal was voted the 2024 Empire 8 Conference Player of the Year, helping the Gators win the E8 Regular Season Championship and accompanying hosting privileges for the Conference Championship Tournament. He earned first-team All-Region honors from the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3Baseball.com and made the 2024 Academic All-District® Baseball Team, selected by College Sports Communicators. Espinal closed the regular season leading the E8 in batting average (.453), on-base percentage (.551) and on-base plus slugging (1.239). The junior, who tied for the team lead with 54 runs scored, registered 19 multi-hit efforts, including a trio of four hit games.  

2023-2024 marked the 25th Anniversary season for the Empire 8 Conference.