Five Run First Pushes Gators Past Cardinals to Tie Single-Season Wins Mark
Russell Sage College baseball scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back, defeating host St. John Fisher 13-3 on Friday afternoon to tie the RSC program record for wins in a season.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
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5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 13 | 1 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Russell Sage College baseball scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back, defeating host St. John Fisher 13-3 on Friday afternoon to tie the RSC program record for wins in a season.
The Gators (27-5/16-1 E8), who have scored in double-digits in 16 of their last 19 games, had eight register hits as they secured their league-leading 16th Empire 8 Conference victory of the season.
RSC jumped out early, tallying three hits and drawing three walks as they put up a five-spot in the top of the first.
The 5-0 advantage held until the bottom of the fifth, when SJFU scratched their first run across. The Cardinals got two more in the sixth, before the Gators scattered eight runs across the final four frames to secure the conference win.
Getting five runs in the first inning was huge and allowed me to pitch stress free today," shared Grimes after the performance. "Big credit to our offense and defense. We are in a great spot right now in conference and everyone is confident and excited to see how far we can take it."
RSC, atop the country in stolen bases per-game, swiped nine bags on Friday.
Looking ahead, RSC is back in action on Sunday, wrapping up their weekend series against SJFU with a doubleheader.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: Russell Sage College Baseball is in its first season under the direction of Head Coach Matt Marsh…The Gators are coming off a 27-15 record and a trip to the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament Finals…19 returners combine with 18 newcomers on this year's squad…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…Senior pitcher/outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa/SUNY Adirondack), senior catcher Collin 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 American Baseball Coaches Association…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…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…RSC commenced the week with three of the top-five base stealers in the Conference…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…Outfielder Nick Irizarry (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield) 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…Irizarry, who broke the program record for stolen bases in a season, tops the E8 with 35 stolen bases and ranks second with 44 runs scored…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…Karpierz began the week leading the Conference in hitting at .490…The infielder, who has helped RSC bat .336 as a team, ranked second the E8 with a .570 on-base percentage and 44 runs scored…Grimes is among the Conference leaders at the plate and on the mound…The southpaw started the week leading the E8 with 53 strikeouts across 42.2 innings, the second-most on the circuit…He is third in the Conference with five homers and 22 stolen bases and fourth with 42 RBI…In addition to Grimes (4-1), seniors Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) (4-1) and Garcia (5-0) have excelled on mound…Green commenced the week second in the E8 with 45.0 innings pitched and a 2.40ERA…Murray (4-1, 2 saves) has emerged this spring, sitting in the top three among E8 hurlers in wins and saves at the beginning of the week.
