Indianapolis, IN –Russell Sage College's softball team wrapped their record-setting season under the leadership of fifth-year head coach Erica Li. Along the way, RSC advanced to the Empire 8 championship game, settling for the program's first Empire 8 runner-up trophy after a 23-18 campaign.
As a team, the Gators were nationally ranked in 28 different categories. Among the team's highlights for success, the Gators finished ranked 73rd with a 0.34 triples per game, while ranking 57th with 14 triples in 2023. RSC also ranked 19th with 17 sacrifice flies.
Individually, RSC had nine different players rank nationally. Headlining the list of honored players, graduate player and outfielder Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) was ranked in 14 different categories. A 2023 NFCA All-American Third Team honoree, Papas ranked 17th in total bases (108), 48th in triples (5), 75th in triples per game (0.12), 22nd in slugging percentage (0.806), 41st in on-base percentage (0.526), 93rd in runs per game (1.0), 43rd in hits (63), 26th in doubles (17), 32nd in doubles per game average (0.42), as well as 32nd in batting average (.470).
Graduate player Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union) was ranked 21st in complete games (20), 94th in starts (21), 89th strikeout to walk ratio (4.5), while also ranking No. 1 in the Empire 8 and the nation with her 0.31 walks allowed per seven innings.
Senior right fielder Lauren Salmonese (Poughkeepsie, NY/Poughkeepsie) ranked 34th nationally with her four sacrifice flies, while rookie pitcher Leah Madore (Williamsville, VT/Brattleboro Union) was ranked 74th with her 16 complete games in 2023.
Salmonese played in 107 games for RSC with a .274 career batting average. She had 270 career at-bats (No.27), while connecting for 74 hits (No. 32) and scored 59 runs (No. 23). Her 20 career sacrifices is sixth best, while her 31 career stolen bases is tied for fourth highest at RSC. She was 31-for-34 on the base paths over the course of her career.
Dicranian, who worked all 32.0 innings of the 2023 Empire 8 tournament for the Gators, had five complete games in the Empire8 Tournament with a 3-2 record and a 2.62 ERA as well. An Empire 8 All-Conference First Team honoree, and a 2023 NFCA All-Region First Team pick, had 146 career hits in 132 career games played. She ranks eighth in games played and hits, while her 400 career at-bats stands eighth as well. She set the school career record with 51 doubles and added eight career home runs (No. 12), 80 runs scored (No. 10)85 RBI's (No. 7) and a .365 career batting average. As impressive as her batting statistics are, her pitching numbers are just as strong.
Dicranian, a 2023 Empire 8 All-Tournament Team pick, set the program's career doubles record, Dicranian capped her year off with a .323 batting average, while also adding a 13-10 record in the circle in 25 appearances. She also had 12 multi-hit games along the way. She ranked first in wins and innings pitched in the league this spring, while ranking 25th in batting average and third in doubles.
She closes her career first in appearances with 94, first in innings pitched 447.1, second in wins (37), fourth in complete games (42), and 14th with her 94 career strikeouts. She ranks 14th all-time with a career 4.04 ERA.
Papas, a 2023 NFCA Third Team All-American, added three straight selections to the NFCA All-Region First Team, having earned acclaim in 2021, 2022, and 2023. She also became the first Gator softball player to earn back-to-back citations from the Empire 8 as the Softball Player of the Year. Papas is the second RSC softball player to earn All-America status after Morgan Dunn was saluted by the NFCA in 2016.
Papas, the Gators' centerfielder, added 160 career hits, with 40 career doubles, 12 triples, and 14 home runs. Also voted the 2022 Empire 8 Conference Player of the Year, she also earned first-team All-E8 honors and also tapped as the E8 Conference Player of the Week on two occasions last year and also saluted this spring twice. She was also named to the 2023 Empire 8 First Team and capped her career after also leading the Gators to the 2023 Empire 8 Softball Championship game, as the team finished as the runner-up and she was also saluted with a selection to the All-Tournament Team.
On the 2023 season, she led the Gators with her.467 batting average, while connecting for a team-best 64 hits on 17 doubles, with five triples and six home runs. She also added a team-leading 36 RBI's with 109 total bases and a .796 slugging percentage having also swiped 12 stolen bases on 14 attempts. As of May 15, she is Empire 8 leader in batting average, runs scored, doubles, OPS (1.400), on-base percentage (.526) and was second in triples, doubles and fourth in home runs.
She was also named to the NFCA Watch List for Division III this spring. A starter in all 41 games in 2023, she added 18 multiple-hit games and tied the single-season hit record (64) as well. She caps her time in a Gator uniform having batted a career-best .488 in 100 career games played (No. 31). Her 328 career at-bats is 12th best, while her 160 career hits is sixth highest. She added 40 doubles, which is tied for fifth best, while her 12 career triples is second best. Her 14 career homeruns is fifth best and her 107 career runs scored is fourth highest. She drove in 82 runs (No. 10), drew 31 walks (No. 16), and had 21 stolen bases (No. 12).
For the 2023 Empire 8 Tournament, she batted .471 with eight hits, including two doubles and a triple. She added a .706 slugging percentage with 12 total bases.
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