Baseball | 4/24/2022 5:46:00 PM
PITTSFORD, NY – For the second straight season, the St. John Fisher College baseball team has clinched at least a share of the Empire 8 Regular Season Championship and earned the right to host postseason play as the Cardinals swept Russell Sage College on Sunday in an Empire 8 doubleheader at Dugan Yard. With the wins, Fisher improved to 22-11 overall and 14-2 in the league standings while the Gators fell to 11-23 on the season and 7-9 in Empire 8 play.
FISHER 5, SAGE 0
Following a scoreless first inning of play, Nick Lemire put himself in scoring position to begin the second frame after belting a ground rule double that skipped the left field fence before stealing third. With the go-ahead run 90 feet away, Luke Duffy singled through the right side before Brian Norsen lifted a sacrifice fly into foul territory that scored James Murphy who was hit by a pitch earlier in the inning.
After trading zeroes over the next three innings, the Cardinals added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth with three runs on four hits and a Gators' error to open up a five-run cushion. Michael Beimel led off the inning with a single to center before Lemire crushed a two-run shot over the Cardinals' bullpen in left to make it 4-0. From there, Ethan Perry reached on an infield error before being replaced by Evan Bowers on the bases. With a man on, Duffy kept the inning going with a single the opposite way before Norsen drove in his second run of the day with a hard-hit single to left that plated Bowers and made it 5-0.
Connor McHugh was nearly untouchable on the day and moved to 5-1 on the mound after allowing one hit over seven innings in a complete-game shutout. McHugh finished with five strikeouts against two walks.
FISHER 11, SAGE 2
After trading a pair of runs each over the first four innings of play, Fisher pulled ahead in the bottom of the fifth with four runs on three hits. Noah Campanelli led off the frame with a single before coming all the way around to score on a double by Ben Lavery. With a runner in scoring position, Beimel reached on an error that allowed Lavery to cross the plate before back-to-back free passes loaded the bases for the Cardinals. From there, Norsen got a pitch he liked and deposited it into left field to score a pair of runs before the Gators could retire the side.
In the bottom of the sixth, Fisher plated two more runs with Lemire and Evan Bowers each collecting an RBI. Holding a six-run lead in the next inning, Lavery put a three spot on the board after crushing a home run with two outs to make it an 11-2 affair.
Michael Poirier took the ball to start and went three innings where he allowed one run despite not giving up a hit. Ryan O'Mara moved to 5-0 in relief after scattering five hits and letting in one run over six innings.