Gators Set Program Single-Season Record for Wins to Earn Two Seed in 2025 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College begins its 2025 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament run on Thursday against Saint John Fisher.
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College begins its 2025 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament run on Thursday against Saint John Fisher.
2025 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament: RSC Gators (Two Seed) vs. Saint John Fisher (Three Seed)
Thursday, May 8, 2025 | 12:00 PM | Clark Whited Complex, Brockport, N.Y. | Live Stats | Live Video
Admission (Cash Only): $6.00 – Adults | $4.00 – Students and Seniors with Valid ID | Free – Children under 12
2025 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Field
#1 – No. 12 SUNY Brockport (33-3-2/21-1-1 E8): Roster | Stats
#2 – Russell Sage College (25-13/18-6 E8): Roster | Stats
#3 – Saint John Fisher (15-8-1 E8, 21-17-1/15-8-1 E8): Roster | Stats
#4 – Utica (18-15-1/12-11 E8): Roster | Stats
#5 – Houghton (21-19/11-13 E8): Roster| Stats
#6 – SUNY Poly (14-21/10-14 E8): Roster | Stats
2025 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Tournament Schedule:
Tuesday, May 6 (at Houghton)
Houghton 7, SUNY Poly 3 (SUNY Poly eliminated)
Thursday, May 8 (at SUNY Brockport)
Wild Card – Utica vs. Houghton (elimination game) – 8:30 AM
Game 1 – Russell Sage College vs. Saint John Fisher – 12:00 PM
Game 2 – Utica/Houghton at No. 12 SUNY Brockport – 3:30 PM
Friday, May 9 (at SUNY Brockport)
Game 3 – Game 1 Losing Team vs. Game 2 Losing Team (elimination game) – 8:30 AM
Game 4 – Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner – 12:00 PM
Game 5 – Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Losing Team – 3:30 PM (elimination game)
Saturday, May 10 (at SUNY Brockport)
Game 6 – Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 11:00 AM
Game 7 – Championship Game (if necessary) – 2:30 PM
RSC Baseball in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament History: The Gators have gone a perfect four-for-four when it comes to qualifying for the E8 Championship Tournament...RSC, in its fourth-season a program, reached the Finals in 2023 and hosted the Tournament in 2024.
Head Coach Nick Pontari Heading into the Playoffs: "This Spring has been another great year for our program. The buy in and work each and every guy puts in day after day is what continues to push our program in the direction we want to go. Like always, these guys have handled a ton of adverse situations all year long, and are excited and ready to prepare to go compete in the Conference Tournament."
Gator Bites with Papa John's: RSC, in only its fourth season as a program, 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 has set program single-season records for both wins and E8 Conference victories...The Gators got off to a 12-0 start in E8 play the spring…RSC clinched a spot in the E8 Championship Tournament for the fourth time with an April 23rd win vs. SUNY Poly...The Gators have scored double-digit runs 18 times this season...The Gators entered the playoffs ranked second in the E8 with a .313 batting average...Outfielder James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), a graduate student, 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/SUNY Adirondack) 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 Collin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose), and graduate pitcher Frederick 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 pitcher 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…Numerous Gators have hit career milestones this season…Lubanksi surpassed the 100 career RBI mark during the three-game series sweep of Alfred…In April, senior outfielder Leandro Guzman (New Britain, CT/New Britain), Russell, and senior infielder Zachary Figueras (Apopka, FL/Windermere) both tallied career hit number 100…On the mound, senior relief pitcher Jaylen Cuevas (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep) became the second Gator to record 100 career strikeouts while saving a 4-2 victory vs. Gordon on March 14...He headed into the postseason atop the E8 with three saves...Casey slashed .583/1.333/.706 with seven runs scored, two homers and seven RBI across the final four games of the regular season...Stearns began the playoffs ranked second in the Conference with a .647 slugging percentage...His 1.127 ops and six homers were both fourth on the circuit...Figueras, tied for sixth in the E8 with 43 runs scored, ranked third in the Conference with 14 doubles...Lubanski is the program's career leader in RBI (131), hits (150) and doubles (42)...The grad student sat third in the E8 with 47 RBI and fifth with 49 hits...On the mound, Garcia was third among Conference hurlers with 65 strikeouts...Opposing lineups were hitting just .184 off the southpaw, second-worst in the E8...DeGroot concluded the regular season with a 3.77 ERA across 57.1 innings pitched, good for fifth and third respectively in the Conference.
