Baseball | 5/28/2020 3:52:35 PM
Allen Murphy of the St. John Fisher College baseball team was named the 2019-20 Empire 8 Male Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year, based on a vote by the conference Faculty Athletic Representatives (FARs). The award honors one male student-athlete who best exemplify what it means to be a dedicated scholar and athlete over the course of their collegiate careers.
Murphy, an infielder and pitcher for the Cardinals, shined on and off the field throughout his four-year career. A consensus All-American and the New York Region Player of the Year in 2019, Murphy put together a career season, as he led the Empire 8 in hitting and finished with a .394 batting average. Murphy, who was named First-Team All-Region for the first time in his career by both D3baseball.com and the American Baseball Coaches Association, started all 43 games, collecting a conference-leading 67 base hits, including 15 doubles, two triples and an Empire 8–best nine home runs.
Murphy, who was also named the Empire 8 Player of the Year and First-Team All-Conference at the conclusion of the 2019 campaign, scored 47 runs on the year, drove in 42 more and led the Empire 8 in total bases (113), slugging percentage (.665) and OPS (1.145). He recorded 17 multi-hit games and had 11 games with three hits or more to his credit.
A native of Richburg, N.Y., Murphy recently earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from St. John. Fisher, while carrying a perfect 4.0 grade-point average. He was named a 2019 Google Cloud First Team Academic All-America Division III Baseball Team selection by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Murphy was an eight-time member of the Empire 8 President's List for student-athletes with GPAs of 3.75 and higher and earned a pair of United Soccer Coaches Scholar All-Region honors. Murphy is eligible for his second straight CoSIDA Academic All-America honor, which will be announced on June 9.
“Allen is not only a tremendous player, but he’s a better teammate and person,” said St. John Fisher baseball head coach Brandon Potter. “He’s shined on the field and in the classroom and at all that he’s put his mind to since arriving on campus. He’s a relentless worker whose leadership has helped propel our program and set an example of excellence for all that he played with and all that will follow.”
In addition, Murphy was selected as the 2020 recipient of the Joan Rowan Memorial Award by the faculty of the Biology department at St. John Fisher. The award is given to a member of the senior class who demonstrates superiority in his or her studies and a commitment to a career in the health professions. Murphy also earned a research grant from the National Biological Honor Society.
Outside of the classroom, Murphy was President of the St. John Fisher chapter of the Tri-Beta honor society in 2019-20, while organizing volunteer opportunities at St. Joe's Neighborhood Center and the Ronald McDonald House. He also helped to write chapter awards and assisted in organizing a trivia night on campus as well as a co-sponsored climate change event with the Sustainability Club.
“Allen is such an impressive young man,” said Empire 8 Commissioner Chuck Mitrano. To attain the highest level of success in baseball on a nationally-renowned team, all while mastering a challenging biology major, earning a research grant and coordinating community service initiatives is nothing short of astonishing. He is most deserving of this distinguished honor.”
Over his four-year career, Murphy, who was named the fifth-best prospect in Division III by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and was tabbed a preseason All-American by D3baseball.com leading into the 2020 season, accounted for 154 hits, 121 runs scored, 36 doubles, 93 RBI and a .338 batting average. His 20 career home runs are the second-most in St. John Fisher’s program history. Murphy was also a two-time Empire 8 Player of the Week.
Murphy had 12 hits in 46 at-bats this year in just 11 games to go along with two doubles, two homers and nine RBI. The Cardinals were off to a 7-4 start before the season was ended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Murphy batted .287 as a freshman in 2017 before breaking out offensively with seven home runs, 26 RBI and 33 runs scored, while batting .324 in 2018.
“The men’s field was really competitive this year, and Allen stood out both academically and athletically,” said Dr. Adam Pack of Utica College, who serves as the chair of the conference's Faculty Athletic Representatives. “He achieved a perfect 4.0 (GPA) despite a very difficult slate of upper-level courses and independent research and was also a top-notch athlete on the baseball diamond.”
Murphy, who was also featured in the Empire 8’s Tomorrow’s Leaders Compete Here series on April 9, was accepted into medical school at the University of Buffalo.
2019-20 Empire 8 Male Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year Finalists
Jansen Crossley, Elmira College – Baseball
Andrew Edmister, Alfred University – Swimming & Diving
Allen Murphy, St. John Fisher College – Baseball
Tyler Schnaible, The Sage Colleges – Golf, Tennis, Volleyball
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.
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