No. 23/25 Russell Sage College Baseball Hosts Saint John Fisher in the Finals of the 2026 Empire 8 Conference Baseball Championship Tournament
ALBANY, N.Y. – No. 23/25 Russell Sage College Baseball hosts Saint John Fisher in the Finals of the 2026 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament on Saturday at Schenectady’s Central Park “A” Diamond.
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2026 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament Finals, Hosted by Russell Sage College
No. 23/25 Gators (35-5) vs. Saint John Fisher (29-11)
Saturday, May 9 | 4:30 PM | Schenectady's Central Park "A" Diamond, Schenectady, N.Y.
Daily Admission (Cash Only at the Venue):
$10.00 – Adults | $2.00 – Students and Seniors with Valid ID | Free – Children under 12
#1 RSC Gators (35-5/21-1 E8): Roster| Stats
#3 Saint John Fisher (29-11/16-6 E8): Roster | Stats
Tournament Schedule:
Monday, May 4 (at SUNY Poly)
Play-In – No. 6 Keuka 6, No. 5 SUNY Poly 3 (SUNY Poly eliminated)
Thursday, May 7 (Hosted by Russell Sage College)
Wild Card – No. 4 Utica 12, No. 6 Keuka 11 (12 innings) (Keuka eliminated)
Game 1 – No. 3 Saint John Fisher 3, No. 2 SUNY Brockport 0
Game 2 – No. 1 Russell Sage College 14, No. 4 Utica 3 – Box Score | Recap
Friday, May 8 (Hosted by Russell Sage College)
Game 3 – No. 2 SUNY Brockport 5, No. 4 Utica 1 (Utica eliminated)
Game 4 – No. 1 Russell Sage College 8, No. 3 Saint John Fisher 5 – Box Score| Recap
Game 5 – No. 3 SJFU 10, No. 2 SUNY Brockport 9
Saturday, May 9 (Hosted by Russell Sage College)
Game 6 – No. 1 Russell Sage College Gators vs. No. 3 SJFU – 4:30 PM – Live Stats |Live Video
Game 7 – Winner-Take-All Championship Game (if necessary) – 7:30 PM – Live Stats | Live Video
RSC Baseball in the Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament History: The Gators have gone a perfect five-for-five when it comes to qualifying for the E8 Championship Tournament...RSC, in its fifth season a program, also reached the Finals in 2023 and 2025, and hosted the Tournament as the E8 regular season champions in 2024.
Head Coach Matt MarshFollowing the Weekend Sweep at Elmira to Close the Regular Season: "Our team did a great job staying present in the moment and competing every pitch. There were so many guys that stepped up this weekend and executed when called upon. The dugout energy was tremendous again and I'm proud of our group for being so invested in each other. It was an incredible regular season filled with so much growth from our entire program. Next week and the rest of the way we will play quality opponents who will challenge us and for us to be successful in those games we will need to continue to trust our training, be present, and compete for the guy next to us."
Gator Bites with Papa John's: Russell Sage College Baseball, in its first season under the direction of Head Coach Matt Marsh, has set the program single-season wins record…As the Empire 8 Conference regular season Champions, the Gators earned the top seed and hosting privileges for the 2026 E8 Championship Tournament…RSC, which went 21-1 in E8 play this spring, 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 nationally-ranked in both of the May 5th editions of the American Baseball Coaches Association and D3Baseball.com National Polls…RSC sits 23rd in the D3Baseball.com rankings…It marks the first time that Gators were nationally-ranked by the organization…The ABCA moved RSC up three spots to number 25...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…RSC is 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… Senior pitcher/outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa/SUNY Adirondack), senior catcher Colin 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 ABCA…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…RSC headed into the postseason atop the E8 with a .349 team batting average and 420 runs scored…The Gators swiped 181 bases during the regular season, the best in the Conference and surpassing the previous school single-season record by almost 80 bags…Karpierz began the playoffs leading the Conference in hitting at .484 and on-base percentage at .566…The senior is second on the circuit with 55 runs scored, 16 doubles, and a 1.279 ops…He's third in hits with 59, fourth with 23 stolen bases and 49 RBI and fifth with a .713 slugging percentage…Outfielder Nick Irizarry (South Plainfield, NJ/South Plainfield), who broke the program record for stolen bases in a season, tops the E8 with 42 stolen bases and 59 runs scored, both program single-season records…Grimes is among the Conference leaders at the plate and on the mound…The southpaw (6-1, 1 save) started the week leading the E8 with 71 strikeouts, the most in a season by an RSC pitcher…Opponents were hitting .213 off of the lefty across 57.2 innings, good for second on the circuit in both categories…Grimes, second in the E8 in victories, started the Tournament fourth in the Conference with a 3.12 ERA…He commenced the playoffs tied for first in the E8 with 52 RBI, stood alone in second with 27 stolen bases, and tied for third with 51 runs scored and seven homers…In addition to Grimes, seniors Aidan Green (Whitesboro, NY/Whitesboro/Onondaga CC) (7-1) and Garcia (7-0) have excelled on mound…Green tossed three complete games this spring…He closed the regular season second in the E8 with a 2.25 ERA, and third with 56.0 innings pitched and a .217 batting average against…Garcia commenced the playoffs with the most wins in a season by an RSC pitcher and the most in the E8…He closed the regular season sixth in the Conference with a 3.80 ERA, a .226 batting average against, and 49 strikeouts…Murray (5-1, 2 saves) has emerged this spring, sitting among the E8 leaders in wins and saves at the beginning of the Tournament… Senior pitcher Greg Mays (Troy, NY/Tamarac/SUNY Cortland) has now saved a team-best four victories…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… Senior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC) 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.
Up Next: The E8 Tournament Champion earns an automatic berth into the 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Tournament.
