Baseball | 5/12/2022 11:33:41 AM
Regular Season Champion St. John Fisher College and No. 2 seed Utica University will meet for the 2022 Empire 8 Baseball Championship, which begins on Friday, May 13 from Dugan Yard. The best-of-three series will begin with a doubleheader at noon on Friday and if necessary, game three will be played Saturday, May 14 at 1 p.m. The Empire 8 Champion earns an automatic berth into the 2022 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
St. John Fisher earned a spot in the championship by defeating No. 4 seed Elmira in three games last weekend in one best-of-three semifinal series, while Utica knocked off No. 3 seed Russell Sage in three games in the second semifinal round.
Top-seed St. John Fisher looks to win its second straight Empire 8 Championship and fourth overall in program history this weekend. The Cardinals enter the series with a 28-13 overall record and 18-2 to capture the 2022 Empire 8 regular season title. Six regulars are batting at least .300 in 2022. Noah Campanelli, the 2022 Empire 8 Player of the Year, is batting .418 with team-best totals of 69 hits, 56 runs scored, 15 doubles to go along with four homers and 40 RBI, while drawing 35 walks and stealing 21 bases. He has an OPS of 1.147 this season. Ben Lavery has team-best totals of 11 home runs and 51 runs batted in this season, while Brian Norsen is right behind with nine homers, while also driving in 51 runs. The Cardinals have hit a league-high 39 home runs as a team this season, are hitting .318 while averaging 9.29 runs per game. Empire 8 Pitcher of the Year Connor McHugh is 7-1 with a 1.52 earned run average and 0.95 WHIP in 47.1 innings, while Alec Teska went 5-0 on the mound, allowing just 16 hits and one unearned run in 31 innings of work with four shutouts during league play. Ryan O’Mara is 7-0 out of the bullpen with 41 strikeouts in 40 innings. Overall, the Cardinals have recorded nine shutouts.
Utica enters the weekend with a 21-16 overall mark in 2022, having finished 12-8 in league play. The Pioneers are in the E8 Tournament for the fifth time in program history and attempting to win their first league crown. Shamariah McCullough leads the Pioneers with a .418 batting average and is 8-for-8 in stolen bases this season, Joe Crossley is right behind with a .362 batting average, .472 on-base percentage and .998 OPS, to go along with a team-high 38 runs scored, two home runs and 25 RBI. Joe Battista is batting .331 with a team-best .583 slugging percentage and .994 OPS with 20 extra base hits, including four homers and 35 RBI. Michael Muentener has scored 36 runs and walked 22 times, while Brendan May has three homers and 30 RBI, while recording a team-best 1.007 OPS. Eight Utica starters are batting at least .300 in 2022, while nine regulars have an on-base percentage of at least .400. Utica is hitting .315 overall, averaging 7.97 runs scored per game. Ryan Cardone is 5-1 for Utica in nine starts with a 2.08 earned run average, 1.10 WHIP and 44 strikeouts in 52 innings. Opposing batters are hitting just .236 off of him this season. James Roeschlaub has a team-high 50 strikeouts, while May has also excelled in relief with four saves and 22 strikeouts in 15 innings.
St. John Fisher won the regular season series over the Pioneers, 3-1, having meet for a pair of doubleheaders on April 9 and April 11. St. John Fisher won the opener from Dugan Yard by a score of 3-0 on April 9, while Utica recorded an 11-4 win in game two. The Cardinals won both games in Utica two days later by scores of 20-4 and 15-2.
The 2022 Empire 8 Baseball Championship schedule is below. For the most up to date information on this year's championship, follow the Empire 8 Conference on Twitter (@Empire8).
2022 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Schedule
Empire 8 Semifinal Round (Best-of-3 Series, May 6-7) - ST. JOHN FISHER WINS SERIES, 2-1
GAME 1 – #4 Elmira College defeated #1 St. John Fisher College, 6-5 – BOX SCORE
GAME 2 – #1 St. John Fisher College defeated #4 Elmira College, 31-2 – BOX SCORE
GAME 3 – 1 St. John Fisher College defeated #4 Elmira College, 14-2 – BOX SCORE
Empire 8 Semifinal Round (Best-of-3 Series, May 6-7) - UTICA WINS SERIES, 2-1
GAME 1 – #2 Utica University defeated #3 Russell Sage College, 12-0 – BOX SCORE
GAME 2 – #3 Russell Sage College defeated #2 Utica University, 4-1 – BOX SCORE
GAME 3 – #2 Utica University defeated #3 Russell Sage College, 11-7 – BOX SCORE
Empire 8 Championship Round (Best-of-3, Series Doubleheader Friday, May 13, If Necessary, Deciding Game Saturday, May 14)
GAME 1 – #2 Utica University at #1 St. John Fisher College – 12 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
GAME 2 – #2 Utica University at #1 St. John Fisher College – 3 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
GAME 3 – #2 Utica University at #1 St. John Fisher College (if necessary) – 1 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
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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