RSC Baseball Has Four Empire 8 Conference Major Award Winners
ALBANY, N.Y. – Nationally-Ranked Russell Sage College Baseball, the 2026 Empire 8 Conference regular season and tournament champions, took home four of the five major awards, as the E8 announced its 2026 All-Conference teams on Wednesday, May 13. Accolades were determined by a vote of the Head Coaches.
The Gators (36-6/21-1 E8), which will be hosting one of the NCAA Tournament pods this weekend at Schenectady's Central Park "A" Diamond, had 11 different individuals recognized.
Senior left-hander Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) was tabbed the Pitcher of the Year. The southpaw (7-1, 2 saves) enters the NCAA tournament leading the E8 with 80 strikeouts, the most in a season by an RSC pitcher. Opponents were hitting .206 off the lefty across 66.2 innings, good for second on the circuit in both categories. Grimes, tied for the lead in the E8 in victories, finished the Tournament third in the Conference with a 2.70 ERA. The first-team All-Conference pick on the mound and in the outfield entered the NCAA regional second in the E8 with 55 RBI, stood alone in second with 28 stolen bases, and was third with 55 runs scored and fourth with seven homers.
Senior catcher Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose) was chosen as the E8 Defensive Player of the Year, while outfielder Nick Irizarry (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) earned E8 Rookie of the Year honors.
Casey threw out nearly 60 percent of would-be stealers, the best in the Conference. The RSC pitching staff started the postseason second in the E8 with a 4.33 ERA, and a .245 opposing batting average. The Gators totaled 275 strikeouts, third-most on the circuit.
At the plate, Casey hit .338 with 50 runs scored and 43 RBI.
Irizarry hit .358 with 63 runs scored, the most in the E8, and 36 RBI out of the leadoff spot. The outfielder also tops the E8 with 44 stolen bases, a mark that sits him second in all of Division III. He broke the program single-season records for run scored and stolen bases this season.
After going 21-1 in Conference play and capturing the E8 regular season and tournament titles, the Russell Sage College Baseball Coaches, led by Head Coach Matt Marsh, comprise the E8 Coaching Staff of the Year. The Gators, making their first NCAA Tournament appearance in Marsh's first season at the helm, have set the program single-season wins record.
RSC, sitting 22nd in the most recent D3Baseball.com and 22nd in the American Baseball Coaches Association National Polls, occupied six of the 14 first-team All-Conference spots. Grimes, selected as both a starting pitcher and an outfielder, was joined on the first-team by junior reliever Tyler Murray (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia/HVCC), senior shortstop Joseph Karpierz (Latham, NY/Shaker/Xavier), senior second baseman Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC), and junior third baseman Jayden Kennedy (East Patchogue, NY/Patchogue Medford/HVCC).
Karpierz began the NCAA tournament leading the Conference in hitting at .457 and on-base percentage at .538. The senior is second on the circuit with 59 runs scored, 18 doubles, and a 1.212 ops. He's third in hits with 63, fourth with 23 stolen bases and 52 RBI and sixth with a .674 slugging percentage.
Murray (6-1, 2 saves) proved to be a valuable arm for Marsh in his first spring as a Gator. He started the NCAA playoffs among the E8 leaders in wins and saves.
Rizzo concluded the regular season 9th in the E8 with a .380 batting average. He ranked tied for fourth in the circuit with 60 hits. The senior drove in 35 runs and stole 17 bases while scoring 51 runs, good for sixth in the E8.
Kennedy heads into the national tournament with a .354 batting average, along with four homeruns and 43 runs batted in. The HVCC transfer got on base at a 49 percent clip, while hitting ten doubles and scoring 37 runs.
Second-team selections included: Irizarry, Casey, and senior starting pitcher Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC).
Green (7-1), who tossed three complete games this spring, finished the Empire 8 Tournament second in the conference with a 2.67 ERA, and second with 64.0 innings pitched and a .232 batting average against.
Sophomore utility Nick Chicaway (Cohoes, NY/Cohoes) and senior pitcher Xavier Garcia (San Diego, CA/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack) earned their way onto the third-team.
Chicaway excelled in both the infield and outfield, hitting .280 with a .451 on base percentage. The sophomore drove in 17 runs and made plays at a 94 percent clip.
Garcia went 7-1 through the E8 Conference Championship. The lefty enters the NCAA Regional with a 3.58 earned run average, 55 strikeouts, and a batting average against of .234.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2026 E8 Baseball Tomorrow's Leaders Team. This team honors a student-athlete who has emerged as a leader not only on the field of play, but in the classroom and in the community. In addition, they "compete with honor and integrity" and have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportsmen. Irizarry represented the Gators on the squad.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: Russell Sage College Baseball, in its fifth season as a program, has won the second Empire 8 Conference Tournament Championship in Athletic Department history...RSC Women's Soccer won the first E8 crown for the Department in the spring of 2021...The Gators, in their first season under the direction of Head Coach Matt Marsh, have set the program single-season wins record…As the Empire 8 Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions, the Gators automatically qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time…Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Russell Sage is No. 12 in the NPI…RSC defeated Saint John Fisher 6-2 on Saturday to secure the E8 Championship Trophy…The Gators, went 21-1 in E8 play to be the top seed and hosting privileges for the 2026 E8 Championship Tournament…RSC was also the Empire 8 Conference Regular Season Champs and Tournament's top seed in 2024…Russell Sage has now made the Finals of the E8 Tournament in three of the past four years…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…In 2025, the Gators went 27-15 and fell in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament Finals…19 returners combine with 18 newcomers on this year's squad…Senior pitcher/outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa/SUNY Adirondack), 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…Senior infielder Joseph Karpierz (Latham, NY/Shaker/Xavier), junior infielder Jayden Kennedy (East Patchogue, NY/Patchogue Medford/HVCC), and junior pitcher Tyler Murray (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia/HVCC) highlight the newcomers…RSC closed the E8 Tournament atop the Conference with a .344 team batting average and 449 runs scored…The Gators have swiped 190 bases, the best in the Conference and surpassing the previous school single-season record by almost 80 bags…Karpierz starts the NCAA Tournament leading the E8 in hitting at .457...He's second on the circuit with 59 runs scored and 18 doubles...The shortstop is third in the Conference with 63 hits, a .556 on-base percentage, and an OPS of 1.212…The senior is fourth in the E8 with 52 RBI and 23 stolen bases…Outfielder Nick Irizarry (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield), who broke the program record for stolen bases in a season, tops the E8 with 44 stolen bases and 63 runs scored, both program single-season records…Grimes is among the Conference leaders at the plate and on the mound…The southpaw (7-1, 2 saves) concluded the weekend leading the E8 with 80 strikeouts, the most in a season by an RSC pitcher, across 66.2 innings…Opponents were hitting .204 off of the lefty, good for second on the circuit…Grimes, tied for the E8 lead in victories, finished the Tournament third in the Conference with a 2.70 ERA...At the plate, he concluded the E8 playoffs second in the Conference with 55 RBI, 27 stolen bases, and seven triples…In addition to Grimes, seniors Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) (7-1) and Garcia (7-1) have excelled on mound…Green tossed three complete games this spring…He concluded the weekend second in the Conference with a 2.67 ERA, and was right behind Grimes with 64.0 innings pitched…Garcia, Grimes, and Green each have the most wins in a season by an RSC pitcher and the most in the E8 with seven…Garcia currently sports a 3.58 ERA, a .234 opposing batting average, and 55 strikeouts across 55.1 innings…The marks ranked fourth, fifth, seventh and fifth respectively...Murray (6-1, 2 saves) has emerged this spring, sitting among the E8 leaders in wins and saves at the conclusion of its Tournament... Senior pitcher Greg Mays (Troy, NY/Tamarac/SUNY Cortland) has now saved a team-best four victories, tied for first in the E8…Sophomore infielder Darren Dengler (Hobart, NY/South Kortright) was voted the Most Valuable Player of the E8 Tournament...He hit .500 (6-for-12) with five runs scored and three RBI across the four games...Dengler finished up the E8 playoffs fifth in the Conference with 50 RBI and fourth with 14 doubles...Senior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC) is second on the Gators in hitting at .380...His 60 hits is good for fourth in the E8, while his 51 runs scored puts him sixth...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…Rizzo 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.
