DAVENPORT, Fla. – Russell Sage College baseball swept a doubleheader against Gordon on Friday, coming out on top 4-2 in game one and then winning 9-2 in game two.
The Gators (6-4) used strong pitching performances to pick up the pair of wins in their second to last day on their spring break trip in Florida.
In game one, Xavier Garcia (Greenfield Center, NY/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack) (1-0) went six innings giving up just two runs and punching out eleven Scot batters to record his first victory of the season.
The junior's effort was followed up by a quick 1-2-3 inning from senior Jaylen Cuevas (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep) who ended the contest by recording his 100th career strikeout, just the second Gator to reach the feat in program history.
Russell Sage got its offense from the fly ball, with three of the four runs coming off sacrifice flies. Junior Owen Murphy (Fairport, NY/Fairport) and James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), a grad student each produced run scoring fly balls, before freshman Nick Chicaway (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) tallied his first career RBI with a sacrifice fly of his own.
Junior Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC) produced the other RSC run on an RBI single which drove in junior Andrew Santa Barbara (Ballston Spa, NY/Ballston Spa/SUNY Adirondack) who led all Gators with two hits and two runs scored.
In game two, Freddie Callo (Milton, NY/Marlboro/Utica), a grad student, got the nod for the Gators, giving up just two hits as he punched out three Scots in his three innings of work. Senior Michael Karpinski (Ballston Spa, NY/Saratoga Springs) followed, striking out five of the six batters he retired in his two scoreless frames. Junior Mark Yorio (Carmel, NY/Carmel/Lycoming/Westchester CC) faced just four batters to get out of the sixth, and junior Brian Dengler (Hobart, NY/South Kortright) punched out two in the ninth to close out the doubleheader sweep with a 9-2 victory.
Russell Sage struck early offensively, scoring seven runs in the third and fourth innings, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of freshman Darren Dengler (Hobart, NY/South Kortright), the first hit of his young collegiate career.Lubanski drove in a pair in the second game, while senior Jorge Oropeza (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena High School) had two hits and scored a pair of runs.
Sophomore Alex Payne (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville) got in on the action later in game two, registering his first collegiate hit on a triple ripped into the right center field gap.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: RSC looks to build upon the most successful season in program history in 2025…Coming off a 16-2 record in Empire 8 Conference play and a regular season championship, the Gators return 25 players to go along with 18 newcomers…Graduate outfielder James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), senior infielder Jeff Stearns (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union), graduate pitcher Joe Degroot (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), and senior pitcher/outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) highlight the returners…Lubanski, Stearns, and Grimes made first team All-E8 conference, while Degroot found himself on the second team…Four others earned all-conference honors in 2024, including senior outfielder Jared Russell (Colonie, NY/Colonie) and senior catcher Cole Paro (Wolfeboro NH/Kingswood Regional), who were both named third team All-E8… Junior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC), junior catcher Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose), and graduate pitcher Freddie Callo (Milton, NY/Marlboro/Utica) headline the newcomers Head Coach Nick Pontari brought in…Pontari and his staff were named E8 Coaching Staff of the Year in 2024.
