Empire 8 Conference Players of the Week - April 22
Empire 8 Players of the Week
April 15 – April 21
Baseball
Player – Allen Murphy, St. John Fisher (Junior, Richburg, N.Y.)
Murphy hit .619 last week as the Cardinals went 4-1, with all four wins coming in conference play. Over the five games, Murphy was 13-for-21 at the dish with three doubles, a triple, one home run, three RBI and five runs scored. Murphy's monster week saw him excel in the field as well with 27 putouts and two assists, while committing no errors in 29 chances. The junior slugger went 3-for-5 with a homer against Brockport before adding four hits in six at-bats against Houghton. The Richburg native capped his week with back-to-back 3-for-4 performances as the Cardinals swept Canton over the weekend.
Pitcher / Rookie – Kenneth Westbrook, St. John Fisher (Freshman, Binghamton, N.Y.)
Westbrook pitched a career-best game last week as the freshman moved to 6-0 on the season behind a one-hit shutout of SUNY Canton. He pitched six innings in the opening game of the doubleheader and finished with six strikeouts. The righty did not allow a walk and held opposing hitters to a .053 average.
Men’s Lacrosse
Player – Dean Peluso, Stevens (Senior, Seaford, N.Y.)
Peluso scored four goals, including the game-winner, as No. 10 Stevens held off St. John Fisher to remain perfect in Empire 8 play over the weekend. He also caused two turnovers and picked up one ground ball.
Goalkeeper – C.J. Alesandrini, Hartwick (Junior, Schenectady, N.Y.)
Alesandrini made 30 saves and surrendered just seven goals in 120 minutes in net during Hartwick’s 2-0 week. He made 16 saves and gave up just three as the Hawks defeated Utica 14-3 on Wednesday. On Saturday, he made 14 saves surrendering only four goals in a 12-4 win over Alfred that clinched an Empire 8 playoff berth. Alesandrini finished the week with a goals against average of just 3.50 and a save percentage of .811. He also contributed eight ground balls in the two victories.
Women’s Lacrosse
Player – Mary Grace Doyle, St. John Fisher (Senior, Penfield, N.Y.)
Doyle helped the Cardinals to their 12
th-straight victory on Saturday with a conference win over Stevens on Saturday afternoon. The senior led Fisher with six total points, after tallying five goals and one assist. The Penfield native finished the conference matchup with five shots on goal, one ground ball, one caused turnover, and five draw controls.
Goalkeeper – Ashley Jablonowski, Hartwick (Junior, Levittown, N.Y.)
Jablonowski was a brick wall in net last week, continuing her stellar play this season. She had an eye-popping, career-high 26 saves on 36 shots on goal in Wednesday's affair against Utica, willing the Hawks to double overtime. She kept the Hawks' deficit to just three over the first ten minutes, making multiple saves to allow for a Hartwick comeback, and stood tall over the final few minutes of regulation to force an extra period. The Pioneers had 19 free position shots, just three of which went past Jablonowski, who also scooped a ground ball on the day. She put forth another solid effort in Friday's 21-0 win over Alfred on the road, posting her first career shutout in a ten-save effort. She contributed a bit outside her usual purview as well, scooping three ground balls and causing a Saxons turnover over the sixty minutes.
Softball
Player – Jacqueline Aronin, Utica (Junior, Naugatuck, Conn.)
Aronin delivered a powerful run-producing week as the Pioneers went 4-0 last week. She was 8-for-16 with nine RBI, and also doubled twice and scored three runs as Utica swept Union and SUNY Poly. Aronin's best performance of the week was a 4-for-4, 5 RBI performance against SUNY Poly.
Pitcher – Emily Trotman, St. John Fisher (Sophomore, East Amherst, N.Y.)
Trotman picked up two wins in the circle last week as the Cardinals swept Houghton in their only doubleheader of the week. Overall, she pitched 12.1 innings and yielded just seven total hits. The sophomore allowed one unearned and picked up her 15th win of the season. In the opening game, Trotman pitched a complete-game shutout before coming back to toss 5.1 innings in the nightcap, where she held the Highlanders to just one hit.
Men’s Tennis
Player – Marc Feliu Gomez, Stevens (Freshman, Barcelona, Spain)
Feliu Gomez picked up key regional wins at first singles and first doubles in Stevens' 5-4 victory over rival NYU, and then added a first doubles victory with partner Bryan Szayna in the Ducks' sweep of Utica.
Outdoor Track & Field
Men’s Track Athlete – Tyler Sutton, Utica (Senior, Whitesboro, N.Y.)
Sutton ran the team's best time of the season and his second-best collegiate time at the 800 meter distance on Saturday as he placed fourth at the Cortland Classic in an All-Atlantic Region standard time of 1:56.36. He leads the Empire 8 in the 800 meters so far this season after Saturday's performance. The time is also in the top 20 in the region so far this season.
Men’s Field Athlete – Kyle Rollins, St. John Fisher (Sophomore, Groveland, N.Y.)
Rollins dominated the jumps portion of the day at the Widener University Invite on Saturday. The sophomore highlighted the event with a monster leap of 2.08 meters, which now ranks him at fifth overall in the nation in the long jump event.
Women’s Track Athlete – Alycia Eaton, Nazareth (Senior, Remsen, N.Y.)
Eaton turned in her best performances of the season at the Geneseo Mid-Week Invitational last Thursday. She set a school record in the 200-meter dash with a time of :25.38. She also posted a personal-best time of :12.66 in the 100-meter dash and won the triple jump with a season-best leap of 11.51 meters (37 feet, 9 1/4 inches).
Women’s Field Athlete – Molly Ferguson, Utica (Senior, Abington, Mass.)
Ferguson set a new Utica program record in the discus as she placed second in the event at the Cortland Classic on Saturday. She smashed her own school record with a throw of 41.33 meters, which tops the previous record by nearly two meters.
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
https://youtu.be/wzL4HcDoUUQ