No. 12 Russell Sage College Baseball Drops NCAA Tournament Opener
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – No. 12 Russell Sage College Baseball began its NCAA Tournament run by falling 9-2 against visiting Penn State Harrisburg.
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SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – No. 12 Russell Sage College Baseball began its NCAA Tournament run by falling 9-2 against visiting Penn State Harrisburg.
The Gators (36-7), coming in at number 12 in the most recent NCAA NPI, will now play on Saturday at 11:00 AM in an elimination contest.
Penn State Harrisburg (34-13), the United East Conference Champions, used a five run second to take an 6-0 lead on the Gators, playing their first-ever NCAA home game as a Department, through three.
Senior infielder Tim Haftl had the big hit of the second-inning rally, a two-run single with one out. He finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and three RBI.
Senior right-hander Fisher Druck (Win, 8-3) made the run support stand up, pitching 7.0 innings and allowing two runs on nine hits.
The RSC runs came in the fourth on a two-run homer by junior third baseman Jayden Kennedy (East Patchogue, NY/Patchogue Medford/HVCC)
Freshman outfielder Nick Irizarry (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield), the 2026 Empire 8 Conference Rookie of the Year, senior pitcher/designated hitter Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa), the E8 Pitcher of the Year, and sophomore first baseman Darren Dengler (Hobart, NY/South Kortright) each had two hits to pace the Gator offense.
Junior Tyler Murray (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia/HVCC) tossed six innings in relief of Grimes (Loss, 7-2). The right-hander struck out five to help RSC save arms for the rest of the Regional.
Freshman outfielder James Quici went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI to lead the victors.
RSC will now have to win twice on both Saturday and Sunday to advance in the Tournament. The Gators will face the loser of the Trinity vs. Randolph-Macon contest later this afternoon on Saturday at 11:00 AM in an elimination game.
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…This will be the first home NCAA Tournament game for the Athletic Department…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 ranked 22nd in the May 12th editions of the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3Baseball.com National Polls…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…Russell Sage Baseball won four of the five major Empire 8 Conference Awards…Grimes was tabbed the E8 Pitcher of the Year…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…Irizarry was chosen the Conference's Rookie of the Year…The freshman, a second-team All-Conference choice, broke the program record for stolen bases in a season…He headed into the weekend second in the NCAA with 44 stolen bases and eighth with 63 runs scored, both program single-season records…Senior catcher Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose) was selected the E8 Defensive Player of the Year, while the Coaching Staff, led by Marsh, was the E8's Staff of the Year…Joining Grimes as first-team All-E8 picks were: senior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC), senior infielder Joseph Karpierz (Latham, NY/Shaker/Xavier), Murray and Kennedy…Grimes, now a two-time first-team All-E8 pick, was voted second-team All-Region by the ABCA last season…Casey was named second-team All-Empire 8 for the second-straight spring…RSC closed the E8 Tournament atop the Conference with a .344 team batting average and 449 runs scored…The Gators began the weekend with 190 stolen bases, the best in NCAA Division III, and a program single-season record…RSC also tops the NCAA with 4.52 stolen bases per-game…The Gators are also in the top-ten in the NCAA for runs (449 – 7th), on-base percentage (.465 -9th), runs per-game (10.7 – 9th), and doubles (105 – 9th)…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…In addition to Grimes, seniors Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) (7-1) and Xavier Garcia (San Diego, CA/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack) (7-1) have excelled on mound…Green, who earned second-team All-E8 honors, 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, who was voted third-team All-Conference, 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…Dengler 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...Rizzo 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…The Gators were nationally-ranked in both of the May 5th editions of the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3Baseball.com National Polls…RSC sat 23rd in the D3Baseball.com rankings…It marked the first time that Gators were nationally-ranked by the organization…The ABCA moved RSC up three spots to number 25...Both polls put the Gators number 22 in the May 12th rankings.
