Softball team lands three players on Empire 8 First Team
Hilton, NY–Russell Sage College's softball team is enjoying a banner season having earned the No. 2 seed in the 2021 Empire 8 Tournament. The Gators also had three players selected to the 2021 Empire 8 First Team on Wednesday with the announcement of the all-conference teams.
Named to the First Team for the Gators were junior utility player Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union), junior outfielder Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill), and sophomore first baseman Makayla Lindsey (New Fairfield, CT/New Fairfield).
Just last week, Dicranian threw her first career no-hitter as the Gators beat Elmira, 5-0and added her first career home run in the night cap as the team beat Elmira, 10-5. She earned Empire 8 Player of the Week honors on May 10. On the year, Dicranian owns a .513 batting average with a team-best 13 doubles, while collecting 41 hits and driving in 20 runs. She is also 15-3 in the circle with an impressive 3.56 ERA in 21 appearances with nine complete games in 114 innings of work. Her 15 wins in a single-season, ranks second all-time as well at RSC. On her career, she has moved to the 10th spot on the team's career record book as she sports 16 career victories, while having also worked in 178.2 innings which is 16th best. She is also 14th having appeared in 42 games with a 5.21 career ERA. At the plate, she owns a .423 career batting average with 69 hits and 29 RBI's. She stands 13th with her 19 career doubles.
Papas leads the Gators at the plate this season as she has a torrid .524 batting average with 14 extra-base hits on nine doubles, two triples and three homeruns. She has a .793 slugging percentage with a .557 on-base percentage as well as adding a .967 fielding percentage. She has earned two Empire 8 Player of the Week citations this spring as a Gator newcomer and is currently 23rd in single-season hits (43), 12th in runs scored (32), and 24th in doubles. She was also honored by RSC as their 2020-2021 Female Athlete of the Year.
Lindsey is a 22-game starter and has a .325 batting average with 21 RBI's. She has nine doubles and three homers as well as a .545 slugging percentage with a .361 on-base percentage. She as a .966 fielding percentage as well with only three errors in 87 total chances. She has also worked for the Gators in the circle in 13 games with a 2-2 record in 42.0 innings pitched. On her career, she has now started 30 of 33 games played at Sage. She has a .346 career batting average with 28 RBI's and 12 extra-base hits.
One member of each team was named that institution's representative on the 2021 Softball Sportswoman of the Year Team. The Empire 8 Conference emphasizes that "Competing with Honor and Integrity" is an essential component of a student-athlete's experience in conjunction with an institution's educational mission. These honorees have distinguished themselves and consistently exhibit the critical traits as outstanding sportswomen. RSC's Dicranian was honored as a member of this year's 2021 Empire 8 Softball Sportswoman of the Year Team.
