Grimes Tabbed the Region's Player of the Year by the ABCA
ALBANY, N.Y. – No. 12 Russell Sage College Baseball senior Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa/SUNY Adirondack) was chosen the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) Regional Player of the Year. The outfielder/pitcher was one of five Gators to earn All-Region accolades from the organization.
Grimes, a first-team All-Region pick, excelled at the plate and on the mound to help the Gators reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time as a program.
The lefty, voted the Empire 8 Conference Pitcher of the Year, went 7-2 with two saves. He tallied 80 strikeouts, the most in the E8, and a 2.92 ERA across 69.2 innings.
At the plate, the senior batted .355 (54-for-152), slugged .671, and reached base at a 48.8 percent clip.
He topped the Conference with 57 RBI, stole 29 bases, and scored 58 runs. Grimes, who tallied seven three-hit performances, finished his season ranked fifth in the NCAA with seven triples. He totaled 102 bases, a program single-season record, blasted seven homers, registered 13 doubles, and drew 38 walks.
Joining Grimes as a first-team All-Region selection was senior infielder Joseph Karpierz (Latham, NY/Shaker/Xavier).
The shortstop wrapped up his spring leading the E8 and ranked 16th in all of Division III with a .446 batting average. He tallied 66 hits, 18 doubles, 62 runs scored, and 53 RBI. and scored 62 runs. His 1.63 runs per game was good for seventh in the country, The senior, who registered a 17-game hitting streak, drove in five runs in four different games.
Senior right-handed pitcher Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) earned a spot on the second-team. He was a workhorse for the Gators this spring, tossing 73.0 inning, the most by any RSC pitcher in a season, and completed four of his 11 starts. The four complete games, a program single-season record, were good for 14th in the NCAA at the close of the RSC season. Green (8-1), a second-team All-Conference choice, won eight games, a program single-season record and the most in the E8. He logged a 2.71 ERA., tallied 57 strikeouts and registered a .234 opposing batting average.
The righty went the distance to be the winning pitcher of the program's first NCAA Tournament victory. He allowed eight hits and three earned runs and struck out six in the 7-4 win vs. Trinity on May 16th.
Green tallied six or more strikeouts on six occasions.
Senior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC) and junior infielder Jayden Kennedy (East Patchogue, NY/Patchogue Medford/HVCC) were third-team picks.
Rizzo batted .363, tallied 62 hits, the second-most by a Gator in a single-season, scored 53 runs, and drove in 35 runs. The second baseman laced 15 doubles, drew 14 walks, stole 17 bases, slugged .497 and reached base at a 45.9 percent rate.
Kennedy hit.348 (49-for-141) with 40 runs scored and 51 RBI. He drew 24 walks, stole seven bases, blasted seven home runs and tallied 10 doubles. The third baseman did a lot of damage at the plate during the three NCAA Tournament games, launching three home runs and knocking in eight runs.
Both Rizzo and Kennedy earned first-team All-Conference honors.
The quintet helped the Gators (37-8) qualify for the NCAA Tournament as the Empire 8 Conference Tournament Champions for the first time. They assisted the Gators, which set the program records for wins in a season, in topping the NCAA with 193 stolen bases, 4.29 per-game.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: Russell Sage College Baseball, in its fifth season as a program, went to the NCAA Tournament for the first time this spring…The Gators, hosted the first NCAA Tournament home games in Department history during the Schenectady Regionals, held May 15-17 at Schenectady's Central Park…The Gators defeated Trinity 7-4 on Saturday, May 16th for the first NCAA win by any RSC athletic team…Russell Sage won the second Empire 8 Conference Tournament Championship in Athletic Department history...Women's Soccer captured 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, set the program single-season wins record, going 37-8…RSC concluded its campaign topping the NCAA with 193 stolen bases, 4.29 per-game…As the Empire 8 Conference Regular Season and Tournament Champions, the Gators automatically qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the first time…The Regional opener against Penn State Harrisburg on Friday, May 15th was the first home NCAA Tournament game for the Department…Heading into the NCAA Tournament, Russell Sage was No. 12 in the NPI…RSC defeated Saint John Fisher 6-2 on Saturday, May 9th 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 were 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 combined with 18 newcomers on this year's squad…Russell Sage Baseball had five student-athletes earn All-Region honors from the ABCA…Senior Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa/SUNY Adirondack) was tabbed the Region's Player of the Year…He was joined on the first team by senior infielder Joseph Karpierz (Latham, NY/Shaker/Xavier)…Senior right-handed pitcher Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) earned a spot on the second-team, while senior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC) and junior infielder Jayden Kennedy (East Patchogue, NY/Patchogue Medford/HVCC) were third-team picks…Marsh was tabbed the Region's Coach of the Year by D3Baseball.com…Grimes was also a first-team All-Region pick by the organization…RSC won four of the five major Empire 8 Conference Awards…Grimes was tabbed the E8 Pitcher of the Year…He was among the Conference leaders at the plate and on the mound…The southpaw (7-2, 2 saves) concluded the Regionals 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 second in the E8 for victories, finished its 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…Outfielder Nick Irizarry (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) 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 Regionals 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: Rizzo, Kennedy, Karpierz, and junior pitcher Tyler Murray (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia/HVCC)… 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 NCAA Regionals with 190 stolen bases, the best in NCAA Division III, and a program single-season record…RSC also topped the NCAA with 4.52 stolen bases per-game…The Gators were 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 started 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 was third in the Conference with 63 hits, a .556 on-base percentage, and an OPS of 1.212…The senior sat fourth in the E8 with 52 RBI and 23 stolen bases…In addition to Grimes and Green, Xavier Garcia (San Diego, CA/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack) (7-2) excelled on mound…Green, who earned second-team All-E8 honors, tossed four complete games this spring…He started the NCAA Tournament second in the Conference with a 2.67 ERA, and was right behind Grimes with 64.0 innings pitched…Green had the most wins in a season by an RSC pitcher and the most in the E8 with eight…Garcia, who was voted third-team All-Conference, headed into Saturday's NCAA Regional start vs. Penn State Harrisburg with 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 in the Conference...Murray (6-1, 2 saves) 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) 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...Rizzo entered the Regional second on the Gators in hitting at .380...His 60 hits were good for fourth in the E8, while his 51 runs scored put 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 campaign 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…In addition to Dengler, the Tournament MVP, Grimes, Murray and Irizarry made the All-E8 Tournament Team…RSC headed into the NCAA Tournament coming in at number 22 in both polls.
