Empire 8 Conference Players of the Week - March 11
Empire 8 Players of the Week
March 4 – March 10
Baseball
Player – Allen Murphy, St. John Fisher (Junior, Richburg, N.Y.)
Murphy helped guide the Cardinals to a 5-3 overall mark last week as the Cardinals played eight games in Florida and posted two wins in a three-game set against No. 7 UMass Boston. He went 16-of-36 (.444) at the plate and had two home runs, 16 RBI and 12 runs scored in that stretch. The junior slugged .667 and had a .500 on base percentage. Murphy’s biggest hit of the week cane in the rubber game of a three-game set with the Beacons after he crushed a go-ahead three-run homerun in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift Fisher to a 10-8 win. He also made two starts on the mound and earned a win against Illinois College. Overall, he pitched 8.2 innings and had seven strikeouts.
Pitcher – Jake Binder, Ithaca (Senior, Syracuse, N.Y.)
Binder carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning of Ithaca's 2-0 victory over No. 18 California Lutheran on Sunday afternoon in Thousand Oaks, Calif. and finished things off for a one-hit shutout. He was perfect through seven innings before issuing a walk and recorded the first out of the ninth before allowing a single. He recorded five strikeouts in the game and needed just 100 pitches for the complete game win.
Rookie – Angus Adams, Elmira (Freshman, Ottawa, Ont.)
Adams made his second career start on the mound against No. 20 Johns Hopkins and pitched 4.0 shutout innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out five. The five strikeouts are a season high, while the four innings of work tied his longest outing of the young season. He fanned the first two batters he faced and stranded two runners in scoring position with a strikeout for the final out of the fourth inning.
Men’s Lacrosse
Player – Nicholas Miller, St. John Fisher (Sophomore, Ithaca, N.Y.)
Miller was a key contributor for St. John Fisher as it won both of its games this past week in Clearwater, Florida. He combined to total eight goals, two assists, and six ground balls in the Fisher victories. This past Thursday, Miller began the Spring Break trip with a game-high five goals and one assist in a 16-10 victory over Misericordia. The sophomore would then go on to score a hat-trick as well as add another assist in Fisher’s 17-6 defeat of Clark.
Goalkeeper – Jacob Mattice, Elmira (Sophomore, Canton, N.Y.)
Mattice made a career-high-tying 22 saves in a 7-2 non-conference loss on the road vs. Centenary (NJ). It’s his third career game with 20-or-more saves and it set a new single-game career high with a .759 save percentage. The seven goals are the second-fewest he's allowed while playing a full 60 minutes in his career. Mattice also picked up two ground balls.
Women’s Lacrosse
Player – Mallory Eymer, St. John FIsher (Junior, Syracuse, N.Y.)
Eymer helped lead St. John Fisher to a 1-1 record on its trip this past week to Clearwater, Florida. Over this week’s two games versus No. 7 York College of Pennsylvania and King’s College, she totaled five goals, two assists, and seven points. In Fisher’s 10-9 overtime loss to York, Eymer led the way offensively, notching a game-high four goals on five shots, while also finishing with one ground ball and one caused turnover. The Syracuse native would then finish out the week with another goal and assist in the Cardinals’ 21-3 triumph over King’s College.
Goalkeeper – Ashley Jablonowski, Hartwick (Junior,Levittown, N.Y.)
Jablonowski set a career high with 19 saves on 28 shots in Saturday's narrow 9-8 overtime loss to New Paltz, good for a .679 save percentage. She made three saves in the final 8:27, including one on a free position shot, allowing her team to complete a three-goal comeback with a goal in the final minute. The Levittown, N.Y. native also scooped a game- and career-high six ground balls as well as tied for the game high with a career-best two caused turnovers.
Softball
Player – Sadie Evans, Utica (Junior, Clifton Park, N.Y.)
Evans started the season off on the right foot with a great opening day performance for the Pioneers in Florida on Sunday. She scored four runs for the afternoon. She notched the game-winning run as a pinch runner in the seventh to help Utica past Mount St. Joseph in the team's first game. In the second game, she did the damage with her own bat as she fueled a ten run team performance with a 3-of-5 performance at the plate while scoring three runs in a 14-10 loss to Stockton.
Pitcher – Gabby Caccamo, Utica (Sophomore, Suffern, N.Y.)
Caccamo delivered an electrifying start in Utica's season opener down in Florida on Sunday. She fired a shutout gem, going the distance in a three-hitter as the Pioneers prevailed over Mount St. Joseph 2-0. Her performance was especially key in a low scoring game where the deciding runs were not plated until the top of the seventh. In her opening performance, she struck out and walked two batters apiece. In the team's second game, she did not allow an earned run in a relief appearance against Stockton.
Men’s Tennis
Player – Stephen Gervase, Elmira (Junior, Lebanon, Conn.)
Gervase went 1-1 in a non-conference match against Oswego State. He was victorious at No. 1 singles for his first singles win of the year and the first of his career at the top spot in the lineup. Gervase overcame a first-set loss to win in a super tiebreaker, 3-6, 6-3, 1-0 (10-4).
Men’s Volleyball
Player – Ryan Byrne, Stevens (Sophomor, Mastic, N.Y.)
Byrne averaged 3.46 kills per set in Stevens 4-0 week. He led the Ducks with 15 kills in their five-set victory over Vassar. The Mastic, New York native registered a career- high 18 kills in Stevens 3-0 win over Marymount. Byrne finished the week with 25 digs, nine blocks and two aces.
Rookie – Josh Bigford, St. John Fisher (Freshman, Cicero, N.Y.)
Bigford helped the Cardinals this past week as the team travel out west to take part in the Cal-Lu-Fornia Classic. The freshman saw action in three of the four games in California, totaling 40 kills, 17 digs, three blocks, two service aces, and an average hitting percentage of .271. Bigford’s highlight of the week was in the match up with Johnson & Wales on Friday night as the Cicero native posted a career-high 24 kills, to go along with five digs and a .365 hitting percentage.
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit
www.empire8.com and
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