Ferguson Named to the All-E8 Tournament Team
GENESEO N.Y. – Russell Sage College Softball sophomore pitcher Alina Ferguson (New Windsor, NY/Newburgh Free Academy) made the 2026 Empire 8 Conference Championship Tournament Team.
The right-hander allowed just one earned run across three relief appearances totaling 15.1 innings, good for a 0.46 ERA. She fanned 10 batters and earned the win in two of the contests.
RSC (21-21/12-10 E8), seeded sixth, made its sixth-straight appearance in the E8 Tournament.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: Russell Sage College Softball made its sixth-straight appearance in the E8 Tournament…The run of playoff appearances includes a trip to the finals in 2023…14 returners combine with seven newcomers on this year's roster…Junior infielder Annalise Tyler (Schenectady, NY/Schalmont), senior catcher/outfielder Emma Heartquist (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane), and senior infielder Hannah Smith (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa/Saint Rose) headlined the returnees…Pitcher Annabella Putnam (Prattsburgh, NY/Prattsburgh/Mansfield), a graduate student, and junior catcher/infielder Katie Call (Antwerp, NY/Indian River/Jefferson County CC) highlighted the newcomers…Tyler and Smith both earned all-Empire 8 Conference honors last season…Tyler was named to the second team while Smith earned a spot on the third team… Tyler headed into the postseason among the Conference leaders in multiple offensive categories...The junior was tenth in hitting (.410), on-base percentage (.469), and runs scored (36), and ninth with 48 hits...She is third in the E8 with 24 stolen bases...The mark is second-most in a season by an RSC player...The lead-off hitter went into the double elimination portion of the E8 Tournament with 58 career stolen bases, third-most among Gators...RSC Pitchers closed the regular season second in the Conference with 213 strikeouts and third with a 3.85 Team ERA...Putnam (7-8, 1 save) and senior pitcher Bailey Catlin (Petersburg, NY/Berlin/Saint Rose) (8-6) lead the staff...Opposing batters were hitting just .222 off of Putnam, the worst in the E8...The graduate student was fifth in the Conference with a 2.98 ERA...She whiffed 96 batters across 96.1 innings...Those marks ranked sixth and eighth in the E8...Catlin started the playoffs sixth in the E8 with a 3.01 ERA...Tyler took home E8 Player of the Week honors for the period ending Sunday, March 15…The infielder slashed .462/.654/.533 during the team's season-opening trip to Florida…The junior scored eight runs, tallied four RBI, laced three doubles, and totaled 17 bases…She registered four multi-hit efforts and stole four bases across the eight games…Putnam was named to the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Players and Pitchers to Watch List…The right-hander, just one of 118 players from across the country to make the prestigious list, was tabbed the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday, April 12…The graduate student, who no-hit visiting Houghton on April 10, went 2-0 with a 1.75 ERA and 13 strikeouts in her two Conference starts that weekend…Overall, she went 2-1 across her three starts this week, all complete games…The right-hander registered 15 strikeouts across 18.0 innings, a 2.33 ERA, and a .232 opposing batting average...Tyler hit .500 (11-for-22) with eight runs scored and two RBI to help RSC secure a home E8 playoff game...The junior totaled 14 bases, laced three doubles, slugged .636, and had a .560 on-base percentage across the six contests... She went 8-for-8 on stolen base attempts.
