Baseball | 5/9/2023 2:10:44 PM
Top-seed St. John Fisher University is looking to win its third straight league title, as four teams will vie for the 2023 Empire 8 Baseball Championship, which begins on Thursday, May 11 to Saturday, May 13 with all games in the double elimination format at host St. John Fisher’s Dugan Yard. The tournament winner will receive an automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, which begins May 19.
The 2023 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).
Final 2023 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Seeds
No. 1 – St. John Fisher University (18-0 E8, 27-12 Overall)
No. 2 – Utica University (13-5 E8, 23-13 Overall)
No. 3 – Houghton University (11-7 E8, 19-20 Overall)
No. 4 – Russell Sage College (9-9 E8, 16-23 Overall)
2023 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Schedule
(All games to be played at St. John Fisher)
Thursday, May 11
Game 1 – No. 4 Russell Sage at No. 1 St. John Fisher – 12 p.m.
Game 2 – No. 3 Houghton vs. No. 2 Utica – 3:30 p.m.
Friday, May 12
Game 3 – Losing Team of Game 1 vs. Losing Team of Game 2 – 9:30 a.m. (elimination game)
Game 4 – Winning Team of Game 1 vs. Winning Team of Game 2 – 1 p.m.
Game 5 – Winning Team of Game 3 vs. Losing Team of Game 4 – 4:30 p.m. (elimination game)
Saturday, May 13
Game 6 – Winning Team of Game 4 vs. Winning Team of Game 5 – 12 p.m.
Game 7 – Winning Team of Game 6 vs. Losing Team of Game 6 (If Necessary) – 3:30 p.m.
Top-seed St. John Fisher enters the 2023 Championship as the first Empire 8 team to finish undefeated in league play with an 18-0, having out-scored opponents, 184-47. Overall, the Cardinals have a 27-12 overall record. The Cardinals are attempting to win their third straight Empire 8 Tournament Championship and fifth overall in program history. Five players are batting at least .325 in 2023. Noah Campanelli, the reigning Empire 8 Player of the Year, is in the top-15 nationally, batting .469 with a league-best totals of 52 runs scored and 75 hits to go along with 30 extra base-hits and 39 RBI. He also has 48 stolen bases, which is second in all of Division III and an OPS of 1.293. James Murphy is tied for 13th in Division III with 14 homers and tied for sixth nationally with 62 RBI. He has an OPS of 1.152 this season. Ben Lavery has 12 home runs and 33 runs batted in this season, while Brian Norsen has nine homers and 46 RBI, while recording a 1.148 OPS. The Cardinals have hit a league-high 53 home runs as a team (tied for 11th nationally) this season, are hitting .315 while averaging 8.62 runs per game. Patrick McGuire went 6-0 on the mound, allowing just 14 hits and three runs in 36 innings of work during league play. Connor McHugh was 5-0 in league play. Overall, the Cardinals have recorded four shutouts.
Utica enters the tournament with a 23-13 overall mark in 2023, having finished 13-5 in league play to earn the No. 2 seed. The Pioneers are in the E8 Tournament for the sixth time in program history and attempting to win their first league crown. Utica has finished as E8 runner-up in each of the last two seasons. Dom Fasolo leads the Pioneers with a .382 batting average and 1.076 OPS, to go along with three home runs and 29 RBI. John Son is right behind with a .364 batting average, 1.027 OPS to go along with team-best totals of four homers and 42 RBI. He also has 19 extra-base hits. Joe Battista is batting .309 with 25 RBI, while Jong Longeretta has a .467 on-base percentage and 11 steals. Joe Crossley has scored a team-best 41 runs, while drawing 24 walks, while Brendan May has First-year standout Kooper Knabe is 7-1 with a 1.59 earned run average and a 1.04 WHIP to go along with 43 strikeouts and a league-high four complete games. Ryan Cardone is 3-2 for Utica in nine starts with 35 strikeouts in 41 innings, while James Roeshclaub has 29 strikeouts.
Houghton is in the Empire 8 Tournament for the fourth time in program history. The No. 3 seeded Highlanders finished the regular season with an 11-7 mark in league play and have 19 wins overall in 2023. The Highlanders are hitting over .300. Zach Parr leads Houghton in several offensive categories, including batting average (.381), on-base percentage (.481), slugging percentage (.590), OPS (1.071), hits (40), doubles (11), home runs (3), RBI (27) and walks (21). Jeremy Wilcox is batting .343, while Davis McMillan has a .315 average with a pair of homers. Outfielder Jason Kauffeldt is second in the league with 28 stolen bases. He has not been caught stealing in 2023. Hunter Kendall has enjoyed a tremendous season on the mound, with a league-high 72 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched. He is 4-3 with a 2.73 earned average, while opponents have hit just .195 against him. Ryan Newtown is tied with Hunter for the team lead in wins.
Russell Sage earned the No. 4 seed and is in the E8 Tourney for the second consecutive season after finishing 9-9 in league play, while playing 39 regular season contests. Jared Russell leads the Gators in hitting with a .387 batting average, while James Lubanski is hitting .338 with 15 doubles and 31 RBI. Brendan Espinal has team-high totals of 49 hits, 33 RBI and 20 stolen bases. The Gators have five regulars batting at least .300 and are second in the league with 93 stolen bases. Christian Brown leads Russell Sage with four home runs. Matthew Denatale leads the Gators with four wins on the mound, while Liam Doyle has 52 strikeouts in a team-high 52 2/3 innings. Cameron Anderson has a team-best two saves.
Admission
$6.00 - Adults
$4.00 - Students and seniors with ID
Free - Children under 12
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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