Alfred, NY –Russell Sage College softball team had their 2022 season come to an end on Friday afternoon in the Empire 8 Tournament. Nazareth College (18-18) held on for the 4-3 win to move on, while the Gators' season came to an end.
The Gators wrap the year with a 15-21 record having made back-to-back appearances in the Empire 8 Tournament.
Nazareth jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of run in the top of the first, but Sage added a run in the bottom half of the inning. With bases loaded senior outfielder Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill), the reigning E8 Player of the Week, scored on bases load walk as junior infielder Katelyn Rice (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) walked.
Nazareth tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead.
Sage made a push in the bottom of the seventh as with two outs, junior outfielder Lauren Salmonese (Poughkeepsie, NY/Poughkeepsie) singled to center field and moved to second on a wild pitch. She stole third and Papas reached on an error at short driving in Salmonese to cut the Golden Flyers' lead to one run, down 4-3. Infielder Emily Agate (Franklin Square, NY/H. Frank Carey), a grad student, struck out to end the Gators' rally.
Freshman catcher Serina Garmendiz (Pine Bush, NY/Pine Bush) had a double for the Gators, while Papas, Rice and senior Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union), all had RBI's.
A left hander, Dicranian worked the complete game, allowing just three earned runs as she wraps year at 8-8.
Nazareth's junior Emily Daciw collected the win as she moves to 11-8 as she worked four innings in relief allowing no earned runs off two hits with four strikeouts. She came in the game for Maddie Funk, who worked 3 innings with four walks off two hits with two earned runs.
For the season, Papas wraps the year with a .486 batting average ranking her seventh all-time in single-season performances at Sage. She added 51 hits, which ranks tied for ninth in a season, while her 13 doubles was tied for 10th. On her career, Papas owns a .503 career batting average with 23 doubles (No. 12), 91 hits (No. 20), and 46 RBI's (No.26). She also scored 67 runs (No.15), with 8 home runs (No. 11) and 7 triples (No. 10).
Agate wraps her time having played in 120 games (No. 17), with a .326 batting average having also collected 113 hits (No. 12) on 347 at-bats (No. 13). She added 19 doubles (No. 14) with 7 home runs (No. 13). Senior Kaitlynn Keeley (Waterbury, CT/Sacred Heart) played in 47 games during her time in a Sage uniform, while graduate performer Ashley Pulcher (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) worked in 18 games with the program.
Dicranian, who led the 2022 team with 18 doubles, also finished with a 3.22 ERA in 26 appearances. On her career, she racked up some impressive numbers as she appeared in the circle 69 times, which is No. 3 all-time. She had 21 complete games (No. 13), with 304.0 innings of work (No. 8). She struck 65 (No. 16) and finishes with a 4.47 career ERA which is 16. At the plate, Dicranian batted .385 in 93 games played which is 30th. She had 105 career hits (No. 16) on 273 at-bats (No. 23). She added 37 doubles which stands fifth, while scoring 50 runs with 55 RBI's (No. 21).
Notes: The Gators appeared in the E8 Championship Tournament for the second-straight year…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 ranked in the top five in hits, RBI, doubles, triples, home runs, and runs scored...Senior left hander/infielder Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union) began the week atop the E8 with 18 doubles…The amount was second-most by a Gator in a single-season (Morgan Dunn – 20, 2016).
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