St. John Fisher and Russell Sage to Meet in 2023 Empire 8 Softball Championship Series

Softball | 5/12/2023 8:00:15 AM

No. 2 seed St. John Fisher University (27-11) and  No. 3 seed Russell Sage College (22-17) and will meet in the championship round of the 2023 Empire 8 Softball Tournament after advancing on Friday, May 12. The Cardinals defeated top-seeded Alfred University, 3-1 in the opening game on Friday morning before the Gators earned a pair of wins in elimination games to advance. Russell Sage defeated No. 5 seed Elmira College (20-19) by a score of 7-1 on Friday in the first elimination game of the day and rallied with three seventh-inning runs to earn a 5-4 walk-off win over Alfred (25-14-1) in the second elimination game.

St. John Fisher and Russell Sage will meet in the game six of the tournament at noon on Saturday, May 13. St. John Fisher, who is unbeaten in the tournament, would claim the Empire 8 Championship with a win in game six. If Russell Sage wins game six, that would set up a winner-take-all game seven, which would be played at 2:30 p.m. St. John Fisher is in the title game for the eighth straight time is and looking to claim its eighth league tittle, while Russell Sage is in the E8 Championship game for the first time in program history.

GAME 3 - NO. 2 ST. JOHN FISHER 3, NO. 1 ALFRED 1 (8 INNINGS)
St. John Fisher broke a 1-1 tie with two runs in the top of the eighth inning, as Amalia DeMartino drove in Gracie Curella and Clare Boegel. The rally started with two outs, as Boegel singled and moved to third on a double by Mari Spitz. That set the stage for DeMartino's heroics.

The Cardinals opened the scoring in the fourth inning, as Kelly Cournoyer singled in DeMartino to open the scoring. Alfred answered right back in the bottom half of the inning, as Abigail Gatza doubled to lead off. Gillian Flint pinch ran and came around to score on a single by Meghan Neto.

St. John Fisher out-hit Alfred, 8-6. Jess Patterson earned the start on the mound, allowing three hits and a run over five innings. Ainsley Evanetski came on in relief and earned the win, throwing three scoreless innings, scattering three hits while striking out three batters.

Alfred's Arden Hatch started on the mound and allowed four hits and a run over five innings, while striking out eight batters. Megan Bennett took the loss, allowing four hits and two runs, while striking out four batters over the final three innings.

GAME 4- NO. 3 RUSSELL SAGE 7, NO. 5 ELMIRA 1
Russell Sage College rallied from an early deficit on Friday afternoon to knock off Elmira College and eliminate the Soaring Eagles, 7-1.

Graduate player Taylor Dicranian (Bennington, VT/Mt. Anthony Union) threw a complete game as she allowed just one run, an unearned run in the top of the fourth. She improves to 11-9 this year in the circle with a team-best 122.1 innings of work and 18 complete games.

Senior shortstop Katelyn Rice (Albany, NY/Colonie Central) was 2-for-3 with a run scored in the contest, while junior left fielder Isabella Vano (Yorktown Heights, NY/Yorktown) drove in a pair of runs and was 1-for-3 with a double. Senior right fielder Lauren Salmonese (Poughkeepsie, NY/Poughkeepsie) was 1-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI a sacrifice fly and a stolen base.

RSC's centerfielder Arianna Papas (Castleton, NY/Maple Hill) was 1-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base as well. Papas has a team-best 87 hits this year and has recorded a hit in all but three of her 38 games started in 2023.

Elmira took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning, as Asia Curkendal singled, moved to second on a groundout, then stole third base and scored on a throwing error. Jillian Cortez led the Soaring Eagles with two hits.

GAME 5 - NO. 3 RUSSELL SAGE 5, NO. 1 ALFRED 4

Alfred took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning and the Gators added a single run in the bottom of the half inning. Dicranian had an RBI double in the bottom of the fifth for the Gators.

Down 4-2 heading to the bottom of the seventh inning, with one out, Papas had a single to left field and stretched into second on the throw. Dicranian came to the plate and belted a two RBI blast to right center to tie the game. Rookie third baseman Ciana Santana (East Meadow, NY/East Meadow) reached on an error before Rice added a double. Rookie catcher Emma Heartquist (Stuyvesant, NY/Ichabod Crane) had the game-winning hot with a single to score Santana and propel the Gators into the championship game.

For the game, Dicranian was 2-for-3 with three RBI's, a double and a home run. She also worked the complete game, allowing four earned runs off of 12 hits with one strikeout as she improves to 12-9.

Papas was 2-for-4 with a triple, while Rice went 2-for-4 and Heartquist had a pair of RBI's for the Gators as they capitalized on three Saxon errors.

Alfred out-hit Russell Sage 12-8. Jessica Remm went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Ashley Lugo added three hits. Tsabella Carrillo and Allison O'Toole had two hits each.

St. John Fisher and Russell Sage are meeting for the fourth time this season and second time this weekend. The Cardinals have won all previous meetings this season, including a 9-1 win in five innings on Thursday in the opening game of the tournament.