BROCKPORT, N.Y. – Russell Sage College baseball hit five home runs as a team on Saturday as they took down the nationally ranked Golden Eagles of SUNY Brockport 10-5.
The Gators (19-9/13-2 E8) trailed 3-0 heading into the top of the fourth inning, before hitting three home runs in four at bats to flip the scoreboard and take a 4-3 lead.
Senior Jared Russell (Colonie, NY/Colonie) got the fun started with a two run shot, before junior Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose) cleared the wall with a solo shot. Just two batters later, senior Leandro Guzman (New Britain, CT/New Britain) joined the party with a solo homer of his own.
The Golden Eagles tied it up in the fifth, before senior Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) cleared the right field wall with a two-run shot, his second big fly of the week.
The lone frame that RSC scored without the home run was in the seventh, where Casey continued his strong day with a two-run double and senior Jorge Oropeza (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena High School) added another on a sacrifice fly.
Brockport (26-3-1/15-1 E8) tallied another run in the bottom of the seventh, before senior Zachary Figueras (Apopka, FL/Windermere) finished the scoring for the day with the Gators fifth homerun, a solo shot over the right field wall.
Grimes got the nod on the mound punching out three in his seven innings of work. The senior was relieved by senior Liam Doyle (West Sayville, NY/Connetquot) who struck out one in two innings of no-hit ball to shut the door on the Saturday afternoon victory.
Looking ahead, RSC is slated to play a doubleheader against Clarkson on Tuesday.
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 an E8 Regular Season Championship, the Gators return 25 players to go along with 18 newcomers…RSC got off to a 10-0 start in E8 play the spring…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), who was 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 that Head Coach Nick Pontari brought in…Pontari and his staff were named E8 Coaching Staff of the Year in 2024…Stearns was selected the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 16…He hit .435 with 10 runs scored, two homers, and 10 RBI across six games…DeGroot was chosen the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 30…He allowed just one hit across six shutout innings to help RSC start E8 play 3-0 at Houghton…Junior Xavier Garcia (Greenfield Center, NY/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack) was selected the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the periods ending Sunday, April 6 and Sunday, April 13…The lefty allowed zero earned runs and struck out 11 Keuka batters across six innings of work in the home win on April 4…He then tossed seven shutout innings to get the win on April 11 vs. Alfred…Garcia allowed just one hit and whiffed 12 Saxon batters to move to 3-0 in his RSC debut spring.
