ALFRED, N.Y. – Russell Sage College opened the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament by being upended 1-0 by St. John Fisher this afternoon.

The postseason matinee was a pitchers duel with RSC senior left hander/infielder Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union) and SJFC freshman left-hander Ainsley Evanetski only allowing a combined eight hits. The southpaws racked up nine strikeouts on the day.

St. John Fisher (16-17/11-3 E8), seeded second, capitalized upon a pair of Gator miscues to plate an unearned run in the bottom of the first. RSC had its chances to knot the contest, getting a runner on second in the fifth, sixth and seventh, but Evanetski made the marker stand up, not allowing a Gator to reach third base throughout her complete game.

The Gators (15-20/8-6 E8), the three seed, will now face Nazareth, seeded fourth, in an elimination game tomorrow at 12:30 pm.

Notes: RSC is making its second-straight appearance in the E8 Championship Tournament…Senior outfielder Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) was named the E8 Player of the Week on Monday...She entered the Tournament as the conference leader in numerous offensive categories, including: batting (.505), slugging percentage (.869), on-base percentage (.563), and ops (1.405)...The outfielder ranks in the top five in hits, RBI, doubles, triples, home runs, and runs scored...Dicranian began the week atop the E8 with 18 doubles…The amount is second-most by a Gator in a single-season (Morgan Dunn – 20, 2016).

Gator Golf Classic: The 17th annual Gator Golf Classic will be held on June 3rd at Colonie Country Club. Registration for the event is now open at: alumni.sage.edu/gatorgolf2022

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