UTICA, N.Y. – Russell Sage College baseball traveled to Utica to conclude its series against SUNY Poly on Thursday, securing their 15th conference win with a 4-3 victory.
Senior Jaylen Cuevas (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep) got the start for the fourth time in his career and shined, striking out nine Wildcats in eight innings of work. The lone SUNY Poly runs came off the bat of Luke Landis, who hit a three-run shot in the first inning.
The Gators (21-10/15-3 E8) struck back quickly, squaring the game up at 3 after three innings.
Three different RSC hitters contributed runs batted in in the victory. Graduate student James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), who drove in his 100th career run last week, drove one in on a single, while junior Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose) and senior Leandro Guzman (New Britain, CT/New Britain)
Senior Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), who relieved Cuevas and recorded the save in the win, also contributed on the offensive side with three hits and a run scorecd.
RSC is back on the diamond this weekend as they host St. John Fisher for a three-game set.
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 12-0 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.
