Empire 8 Conference Players of the Week - March 18
Empire 8 Players of the Week
March 11 – March 17
Baseball
Player – Adam Gallagher, Ithaca (Senior, Endwell, N.Y.)
Gallagher hit .429 (9-21) over the final six games of Ithaca's trip to California and produced 11 RBI, eight runs scored and three home runs. Against Pomona-Pitzer, he went 3-for-4 with four RBI and two homers. Two days later against Occidental, he drove in six runs on four hits, including another home run and a double. Gallagher slugged .905 over the six game stretch with a .500 on-base percentage. He was also perfect in 30 total defensive chances.
Pitcher – Griffin Baur, Utica (Sophomore, New York Mills, N.Y.)
Baur posted one of the best starts of his career with seven strong innings in a win over Cornell College. He allowed just one run (unearned) on two hits, while striking out nine in a 5-2 win.
Rookie – Sutton Dole, Stevens (Freshman, Houston, Texas)
Dole registered his first collegiate homerun in Stevens 9-2 loss to The Apprentice School over the weekend. The Houston, Texas native collected a pair of hits in the loss.
Men’s Lacrosse
Player – Nicholas Miller, St. John Fisher (Sophomore, Ithaca, N.Y.)
Miller posted 14 total points on the week as the Cardinals dropped Brockport, 17-7, before taking down Oswego State, 16-7, on Saturday. Against Brockport, he finished with five goals and two assists to go along with one ground ball. The Ithaca native followed that up with a career-high seven goals and five ground balls against the Lakers.
Goalkeeper – C.J Alesandrini, Hartwick (Junior, Schenectady, N.Y.)
Alesandrini made 18 saves and only surrendered nine goals in 112:28 of action in two Hartwick wins. He stopped 13 shots with seven goals allowed in a 13-7 win over Oneonta on Tuesday. He then made five stops with two goals against in an 18-7 win over Potsdam on Saturday. He also added a pair of ground balls and a caused turnover. For the week, he registered a goals against average of 4.80 and a save percentage of .667.
Women’s Lacrosse
Player – Lexi Scaccia, Utica (Freshman, Whitesboro, N.Y.)
Scaccia's incredible freshman season just continues to jump off the charts as her performance guided Utica to two wins over Spring Break. On Tuesday in a win over Regis, she had her third hat trick of the year on a season-high seven shots. On Wednesday, she had a career-best five goals and an assist as the Pioneers waltzed by Medaille in a neutral site game.
Goalkeeper – Hali Vandermeulen, Utica (Junior, Walden, N.Y.)
Vandermeulen backstopped the Pioneers to a pair of mid-week wins last week that improved the team to 4-1 on the young season. On Tuesday, she stopped five of twelve shots in a 16-7 win over Regis College. On Wednesday, she saved half of the shots she faced as her eight save clip on sixteen shots boosted Utica past Medaille.
Softball
Player – Kiersten Duncan, Sage (Senior, Millerton, N.Y.)
Duncan had a great finish to the week as Sage went 3-3. She batted .455 with 10 hits, including three doubles with six RBI's. She posted a .591 slugging percentage in 22 at bats with a .435 on-base percentage, while also committing just two errors for a .944 fielding percentage in 36 total chances.
Pitcher – Jessica Wilcox, Alfred (Junior, Forestville, N.Y.)
Wilcox pitched six complete games in six days, recording 34 strikeouts and allowing only 15 earned runs (2.46 ERA) in California. She finished the week 3-3, with one loss coming to #14 Pomona Pitzer. Wilcox threw a complete game against the ranked opponent, allowing only two runs and recorded three strikeouts.
Outdoor Track & Field
Men’s Track Athlete – Alex Spicer, Alfred (Freshman, Corning, N.Y.)
Spicer took second in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.65 during the Alan Connie/Shamrock Invitational hosted by Coastal Carolina. He defeated runners from multiple Division II and Division I schools. He also ran a 10.97 in the 100-meter dash for eighth place on Friday.
Men’s Volleyball
Co-Player – Ryan McDonough, Elmira (Senior, Lindenhurst, N.Y.)
McDonough led Elmira to a 2-1 showing at the Elmira College Invitational, as they picked up wins over Rutgers-Newark and D'Youville. He finished the weekend leading the team in kills (53), digs (34) and aces (5). McDonough averaged a stellar 4.42 kills per set, while hitting at a .343 clip. Against MIT on Friday, the senior tallied a double-double with 17 kills and 13 digs, along with two aces. He followed that performance with a 19-kill, 16-dig performance in the five-set win over Rutgers-Newark. Against D'Youville, McDonough led Elmira to a three-set win with 17 kills, rounding out his stat line with two aces, five digs and two blocks.
Co-Player – David Lehman, Stevens (Junior, Oakland, Calif.)
Lehman averaged four kills per set over the weekend with his 13 kills against Hunter and 23 kills against St. Joseph’s-Long Island. The Oakland, California native registered nine blocks against the Golden Eagles and finished the weekend with six digs as the Ducks picked up a pair of wins against two teams that were among those receiving votes in last week’s AVCA Coaches’ Poll.
Rookie – Dylan Urbanski, St. John Fisher (Freshman, Clifton Park, N.Y.)
Urbanski helped lead the Cardinals to a 1-1 week, which included a four-set win over Eastern Mennonite. In Fisher’s first matchup on Saturday with No. 9 New Paltz, he handled the setting duties and finished with 27 assists to go along with two digs, two blocks, and one service ace. The freshman then followed up with a game-high 35 assists in the win over the Royals. The Clifton Park native also added a service ace and a dig in the Cardinals’ 17th win of the season.
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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