RSC Picks Up Pair of Important E8 Wins at SUNY Poly
MARCY, N.Y. – In a road doubleheader with major Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament implications, Russell Sage College picked up a pair of victories at SUNY Poly this afternoon.
MARCY, N.Y. – In a road doubleheader with major Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament implications, Russell Sage College picked up a pair of victories at SUNY Poly this afternoon.
The Gators, now winners of nine of its last 12, erased a three-run deficit to take the opener 5-4, before holding off the host Wildcats 3-1 in the second game.
Down 3-0 through three innings against one of the top pitchers in the Conference in the first game, RSC rallied for two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth to take the lead.
After junior catcher Emma Heartquist (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) plated a pair in the fifth with a single, sophomore shortstop Allison Kenyon (Mechanicville, NY/Mechanicville) singled home sophomore outfielder Bella Julian (Cicero, NY/Cicero North-Syracuse) and sophomore infielder Annalise Tyler (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont) to break a 3-3 deadlock.
The rallies all came against Wildcat graduate student Trinity Critelli, who opened the twinbill leading the E8 in both innings pitched and strikeouts and ranked second in opposing batting average.
That fifth RSC marker proved vital in the bottom of the seventh as SUNY Poly had runners on first and second with no outs. The Wildcats were able to halve its deficit before junior right-hander Bailey Catlin (Petersburg, NY/Berlin/Saint Rose) came in to save the road triumph.
After facing the SUNY Poly (18-13/12-8 E8) ace in the opener, the Gators threw their ace, junior right-hander Leah Madore (Williamsville, VT/Brattleboro Union), in the second contest. The RSC career leader for strikeouts allowed just one run and fanned seven in her complete game win (9-8). In the process of helping RSC sweep the doubleheader, Madore, became just the second Gator to eclipse 400.0 career innings pitched. She finished the twinbill ranked third in the Conference with 149 Ks, fourth with 114.1 innings pitched and fifth with a 2.76 ERA.
Kenyon added to the Gator advantage with a RBI double in the third. The co-captain went a combined 2-for7 with three RBI across the pair of wins.
RSC (16-21/12-8 E8) closes its regular season this weekend with a home doubleheader against Nazareth. The games will determine as to whether or not the Gators will be at home for the first round of the E8 Conference Championship Tournament on Tuesday, May 6.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: RSC swept a home doubleheader from SUNY Brockport on April 27 to secure a spot in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament for the fifth-straight spring…The Gators will be seeded either fifth, sixth, or seventh and play against Nazareth, SUNY Poly, or Elmira in the first round on Tuesday...12 returnees combine with eight newcomers on this year's roster…Senior outfielder Madalyn Ring (Gansevoort, NY/South Glens Falls), Tyler, and Madore highlight the returning Gators…Madore and Tyler earned second-team All-E8 honors last spring, while Ring made third-team All-Conference…Madore punched out 154 batters across 174 innings, both single-season program records in 2024..The righty became the program's all-time leader for career strikeouts in the complete game shutout of visiting Saint John Fisher on April 4…She surpassed 350 career strikeouts on tuesday vs. Union...Madore became just the second Gator to eclipse 400.0 career innings pitched in Wednesday road doubleheader sweep at SUNY Poly….The junior was chosen the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday, April 6…Madore went 3-0 and whiffed 15 batters across 15.0 scoreless innings…The right-hander tossed no-hitters in the shutout wins at Keuka on April 19 and at Hartwick on April 22…She opened the week ranked third in the E8 with 135 strikeouts…She entered the final week of the regular season with 397 innings, second-most all-time…Ring commenced the season with 43 career stolen bases, good for fourth in RSC records…Tyler began the week second in the Conference with 51 hits…RSC opened its spring with eight contests in Florida between March 10-14…Julian led the Gators with a .500 batting average during the time in the "Sunshine State"…She commenced the week with a Conference-best and program single-season record eight triples…Ring, Heartquist, and Kenyon comprise the team's Leadership Committee.