Gators Heading to the E8 Tournament Finals for the Third Time in Four Years
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Nationally-Ranked Russell Sage College Baseball punched its ticket to the Finals of the 2026 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament by defeating visiting Saint John Fisher 8-5.
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SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Nationally-Ranked Russell Sage College Baseball punched its ticket to the Finals of the 2026 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament by defeating visiting Saint John Fisher 8-5.
The Gators, sitting 23rd in the D3Baseball.com and 25th in the American Baseball Coaches Association National Polls, overcame a slow start offensively to compete on the final day of the E8 Tournament for the third time in the last four years (2023 and 2025).
Despite permitting an unearned run in the first, SJFU right-hander Sean Cleary was holding the Gators, the top offense in the Conference, hitless through six innings. In addition to goose egg in the RSC hit column, the third-seeded Cardinals, had also put across a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to take a 2-1 lead.
The tide turned in the seventh.
SJFU (28-11) had the bases loaded, looking for more, but RSC senior right-hander Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) got a fly out to keep the Gator deficit at one.
Not only did RSC get its first hit of the day in the bottom half, but the Gators put up four runs to take the lead for good.
Senior Joseph Karpierz (Latham, NY/Shaker/Xavier) opened the rally with a double off the left field fence. The shortstop, the E8 leader in hitting, came around to score on a single by senior outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), the Conference leader in RBI.
Sophomore infielder Darren Dengler (Hobart, NY/South Kortright) singled home Grimes to put the Gators ahead. Sophomore infielder Nick Chicaway (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) would eventually follow with an RBI double to put RSC up 5-2.
After the Cardinals got one back in the eighth with a solo homer, RSC added three insurance runs in what would be its final at bat in the bottom half. Dengler singled home a pair to highlight the frame.
The sophomore finished the day 2-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored.
In the ninth, SJFU was able to string some hits together off of Green (Win, 7-1) to climb closer. With runners on first and third with no one out, senior Greg Mays (Troy, NY/Tamarac/SUNY Cortland) (Save, 4) then came in to shut the door.
RSC (35-5) will host either Saint John Fisher or SUNY Brockport tomorrow for the title.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: Russell Sage College Baseball, in its first season under the direction of Head Coach Matt Marsh, has set the program single-season wins record…As the Empire 8 Conference regular season Champions, the Gators earned the top seed and hosting privileges for the 2026 E8 Championship Tournament…RSC, which went 21-1 in E8 play this spring, was also the Empire 8 Conference regular season champs and Tournament's top seed in 2024… The Gators are nationally-ranked in both of the May 5th editions of the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3Baseball.com National Polls…RSC sits 23rd in the D3Baseball.com rankings…It marks the first time that Gators were nationally-ranked by the organization…The ABCA moved RSC up three spots to number 25...The Gators clinched a spot in the E8 Championship Tournament with the home win vs. SUNY Brockport on April 17…RSC has now made the playoffs in all five years that it has been a program…RSC is coming off a 27-15 record and a trip to the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament Finals…19 returners combine with 18 newcomers on this year's squad…Grimes, senior catcher Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose), and senior pitcher Xavier Garcia (San Diego, CA/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack) headline the returners…Grimes garnered a multitude of honors after last season, being named to the First-Team in the Empire 8 and Second-Team All-Region from the ABCA…Casey was named second-team All-Empire 8 for the 2025 campaign…Karpierz, junior infielder Jayden Kennedy (East Patchogue, NY/Patchogue Medford/HVCC), and junior pitcher Tyler Murray (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia/HVCC) highlight the newcomers…RSC headed into the postseason atop the E8 with a .349 team batting average and 420 runs scored…The Gators swiped 181 bases during the regular season, the best in the Conference and surpassing the previous school single-season record by almost 80 bags…Karpierz began the playoffs leading the Conference in hitting at .484 and on-base percentage at .566…The senior is second on the circuit with 55 runs scored, 16 doubles, and a 1.279 ops…He's third in hits with 59, fourth with 23 stolen bases and 49 RBI and fifth with a .713 slugging percentage…Outfielder Nick Irizarry (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield), who broke the program record for stolen bases in a season, tops the E8 with 42 stolen bases and 59 runs scored, both program single-season records…Grimes is among the Conference leaders at the plate and on the mound…The southpaw (7-1, 1 save) started the week leading the E8 with 71 strikeouts, the most in a season by an RSC pitcher…Opponents were hitting .213 off of the lefty across 57.2 innings, good for second on the circuit in both categories…Grimes, second in the E8 in victories, started the Tournament fourth in the Conference with a 3.12 ERA…He commenced the playoffs tied for first in the E8 with 52 RBI, stood alone in second with 27 stolen bases, and tied for third with 51 runs scored and seven homers…In addition to Grimes, Green (7-1) and Garcia (7-0) have excelled on mound…Green has tossed three complete games this spring…He closed the regular season second in the E8 with a 2.25 ERA, and third with 56.0 innings pitched and a .217 batting average against…Garcia starts the playoffs with the most wins in a season by an RSC pitcher and the most in the E8…He closed the regular season sixth in the Conference with a 3.80 ERA, a .226 batting average against, and 49 strikeouts…Murray (5-1, 2 saves) has emerged this spring, sitting among the E8 leaders in wins and saves at the beginning of the week…Mays has now saved a team-best four victories…Grimes was named the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 1...The lefty registered an eleven strikeout performance across 5.2 innings in the 2-0 season-opening win vs. Mount Saint Vincent on February 28...The All-Region performer allowed just two hits and two walks to help the Gators begin their season in the win column...Karpierz was selected the E8 Baseball Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 15...He batted .522 (12/23) with nine runs scored and 13 RBI across six games...The infielder, who slugged .826 and reached base at a 58.1 percent clip, tallied five doubles and went 4-for-4 on stolen base attempts…Grimes was named the Conference's Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 22...He hit .529 with nine RBI in the 4-0 week...The senior, who scored three runs and totaled 16 bases, slugged .941 and reached base at a .556 rate...Garcia was named the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 22...The senior allowed three hits and zero earned runs to earn the win against Western New England on March 21…The Gators received seven votes in the March 31st edition of the ABCA Division III Coaches Poll, the first time receiving votes in program history…Grimes was named the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending on Sunday, April 5...The senior hit .385 with 17 RBI in the 7-0 week including a walk-off grand slam against Houghton...On the mound, the lefty went 2-0 with 16 strikeouts across 13 innings...RSC earned 19 votes in the April 7th ABCA national poll…The Gators earned votes in the D3Baseball.com rankings for the first time on April 7…RSC broke the program single-season record for steals in a season during the home doubleheader sweep of Alfred on April 11…Karpierz was tabbed the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, April 12…He batted .529 (9-for-17) with nine runs scored and 13 RBI in the 4-0 week…The senior, who totaled 20 bases, slugged 1.176 and registered a .600 on-base percentage…Irizarry was selected the E8 Rookie of the Week for the period ending Sunday, April 12… The freshman batted .357 with five runs scored, six stolen bases and ten RBI in the 4-0 week…He has been setting the table effectively, successfully swiping bases on 29 of his first 30 collegiate stolen base attempts… RSC began the spring with a 22-3 overall record, 11-0 in E8 play…The Gators opened their Conference schedule out-scoring opponents by a 141-36 margin…RSC was pummeling E8 pitchers to the tune of a .405 batting average, while keeping the opposition to hit just .203…Grimes was tabbed the Conference's Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday, April 19…The lefty helped the Gators hand SUNY Brockport, the defending E8 Champions, their first conference loss of the spring on April 17…He allowed just one earned run on four hits, and struck out three Golden Eagles across six innings of work…After a 4-0 week, including sweeping the three-game series at Saint John Fisher, then receiving votes in the ABCA National Poll, RSC dominated the Conference weekly awards for the period ending Sunday, April 26… Senior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC) was tabbed the E8 Player of the Week…He batted .474 (9-for-19) with seven runs scored and seven RBI in the 4-0 week...The senior totaled 11 bases, slugged .579 and reached base at a .524 percentage... Irizarry was selected the E8 Rookie of the Week…He hit .556 (10-for-18) with eight runs scored and four RBI in the 4-0 week...The outfielder, who went 6-of-6 on stolen base attempts, slugged .556, totaled 10 bases, and had a .636 on-base percentage...Grimes was chosen the E8 Pitcher of the Week…The lefty held the high-powered Saint John Fisher offense in check, allowing just seven hits and two earned runs across eight-innings…He fanned six in the 13-3 road victory… The Gators were nationally-ranked for the first time as program, coming in at number 28 in the April 28th edition of the American Baseball Coaches Association National Poll…Grimes earned E8 Player of the Week honors for the period ending Sunday, May 3…The senior hit .615 (8-for-13) with eight runs scored and five RBI across the three-game sweep…He totaled 18 bases, tallied three doubles, tripled twice and cleared the fence once…Grimes, the winning pitcher in game one of the doubleheader on Saturday, May 2, slugged 1.385 and reached base at a .667 rate against the Soaring Eagles…Factoring in the April 28th victory at Skidmore, which was saved by the southpaw, he went 9-for-16 (.563) with nine runs scored, eight RBI and 22 total bases…Across the 4-0 week, Grimes, who also homered in the Skidmore win, slugged 1.375 and had a .600 on-base percentage.
