No. 2 St. John Fisher and No. 3 Utica to Meet for 2024 Empire 8 Baseball Championhip

Baseball | 5/10/2024 9:53:16 PM

No. 2 seed St. John Fisher University (25-17) and No. 3 seed Utica University (19-24) and will meet in the championship round of the 2024 Empire 8 Baseball Tournament after advancing through on Friday, May 10. The Cardinals defeated No. 4 Houghton University, 5-3 in 10 innings in the winners bracket game on Friday afternoon. Utica won a pair of games on Friday, 4-3 in 15 innings over No. 1 Russell Sage College (23-17) in an elimination game on Friday morning before rallying to defeat Houghton (16-22), 5-3 in the second elimination game Friday evening.

St. John Fisher and Utica will meet in the game six of the tournament at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 11 from Central Park “A” Diamond in Schenectady, NY. St. John Fisher, who is unbeaten in the tournament, would claim the Empire 8 Championship with a win in game six. If Utica wins game six, that would set up a winner-take-all game seven, which would be played at 4:30 p.m. St. John Fisher is in the title game for the eighth straight time is and looking to claim its fourth consecutive league title and sixth championship overall, while Utica is in the E8 Championship game for the third time in the last four seasons and is looking for its first league title in program history.

GAME 3 - NO. 3 UTICA 4, NO. 1 RUSSELL SAGE 3 (15 INNINGS)
Outfielder Joe Crossley, a grad student, broke a 3-3 tie in the top of the 15th inning with a solo homer off of southpaw Matthew Denatale (Rhinebeck, NY/Rhinebeck), a grad student to snap a 3-3 tie and lift Utica to a wild 4-3 win over Russell Sage in the opening elimination game of the day.

After a first inning solo homer got the Pioneers on the board, the Gators scored twice in the bottom half.  Junior outfielder Jared Russell (Colonie, NY/Colonie) laced an RBI single, while junior infielder Jeff Stearnes (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union) successfully stole home.

Utica, seeded third, used a pair of fourth-inning doubles to tie it at two and gained the lead with an unearned run in the fifth. It appeared that Utica junior lefty Frederick Callo Jr. would make the marker stand up, going into the ninth up 3-2.

Junior infielder Nick Marsella (New Hyde Park, NY/New Hyde Park Memorial) started the frame with a single. Pinch-runner Jack Duane (Glenville, NY/Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake) was sacrificed to second and moved to third on fly out to right. With the tying run 90 feet away, Callo induced the needed grounder to third, but the toss across the diamond was dropped by the first baseman, allowing Duane to cross home and send the game to extras.

Callo allowed just five hits and struck out nine Gators across nine innings to take a tough no decision. Fellow lefty Joe Degroot (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse) kept RSC in striking distance to eventually tie it. The southpaw, who also went nine, permitted just six hits and picked off a pair of Utica base runners. Denatale (Loss, 5-5) took over in the tenth and allowed just four hits across six innings.

Sophomore lefty Connor Ford tossed six scoreless frames to pick up the win (3-1).

Junior outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) and Russell paced the RSC offense with two hits each.

Utica (18-24), which advanced to face Houghton later today for a spot in Championship Saturday, received three hits apiece from infielder John Longeretta, a graduate student, and junior outfielder Josh Duval.

GAME 4 - NO. 2 ST. JOHN FISHER 5, NO. 4 HOUGHTON 3 (10 INNINGS)
Senior third baseman James Murphy hit a walk-off two-run home run in the 10th inning of Friday's Empire 8 Baseball Championship Tournament winners' bracket game, propelling the Cardinals past No. 4 seed Houghton, 5-3, and into the tournament's Championship Saturday.

The Cardinals, now 2-0 in the double-elimination tournament, are a win away from clinching their fourth straight conference title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III baseball tournament.

Murphy ultimately finished the day 2-for-5 with three RBI, driving in the first run of the game on an RBI groundout in the first inning to make it 1-0. That score would hold until the seventh innings, as senior pitcher Patrick McGuire worked 6.1 innings, allowing just four hits and striking out four until he ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up his only two earned runs of the game as the Highlanders jumped ahead, 2-1. 

Fisher jumped back ahead, 3-2, in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a two-out two-run single by senior Nick Lemire. Houghton tied the game again in the top of the ninth, however, and the two teams went into extra innings. 

After senior reliever Anthony Lang put down the Highlanders in order in the top of the tenth, it seemed the Cardinals would suffer the same fate, as the first two Cardinals hitters were put out. Graduate student first baseman Brian Norsen hit a two-out single, however, paving the way for Murphy's walk-off home run. 

Lang earned the win in relief, going 1 2/3 hitless innings while striking out two. 

GAME 5 - NO. 3 UTICA 11, NO. 4 HOUGHTON 5
Utica rallied from a 3-1 deficit to score 10 unanswered runs, including six in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull away from Houghton and advance to the E8 Championship game.

Five different Pioneers had two hits apiece. Jason Story, Andrew Salbinski and Lance Berger each had two hits and two RBIs apiece. Jack Scanlon was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two walks, while Joe Crossly was 2-for-4 with a walk, run scored and RBI.

Peyton Newtown picked up the win in relief, allowing just two runs over six innings on six hits, while striking out three batters.

Christian Tortorici was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI for Houghton.

St. John Fisher and Utica are meeting for the fifth time this season and second time this weekend. The Cardinals have won all previous meetings this season, including an 15-6 win on Thursday in the second game of the tournament. The Cardinals have scored 62 runs in the previous four meetings this season.
Thursday, May 9
Game 1 – No. 4 Houghton defeated No. 1 Russell Sage, 5-2 – BOX SCORE
Game 2 – No. 2 St. John Fisher defeated No. 3 Utica, 15-6 – BOX SCORE

Friday, May 10
Game 3 – No. 3 Utica defeated No. 1 Russell Sage, 4-3 (15 innings, Russell Sage eliminated) – BOX SCORE
Game 4 – No. 2 St. John Fisher defeated No. 4 Houghton, 5-3 (10 innings) – BOX SCORE
Game 5 – No. 3 Utica defeated No. 4 Houghton, 11-5 – (Houghton eliminated) – BOX SCORE
 
Saturday, May 11
Game 6 – No. 4 Utica vs. No. 2 St. John Fisher – 1 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 7 – No. 4 Utica vs. No. 2 St. John Fisher (If Necessary, Utica would need to win game 6) – 4:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS

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