Baseball | 5/9/2024 6:24:12 PM
No. 2 seed St. John Fisher University (24-17) and No. 4 seed Houghton University (16-20) won their opening games of the double elimination 2024 Empire 8 Baseball Tournament from Central Park Diamond “A” in Schenectady, NY on Thursday, May 9. Houghton defeated No. 1 seed and host Russell Sage (23-16), 5-2 in the opener, while St. John Fisher defeated No. 3 seed Utica University (17-24), 15-6 in the second game of the day.
Russell Sage and Utica will meet at 11 a.m. Friday in game three, which will also serve as an elimination game. St. John Fisher and Houghton will meet in the winner's bracket game four at 2:30 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that game will advance to the championship round, which is scheduled to be played on Saturday, May 11. The winning team of game three and losing team from game four will meet in a second elimination game 5 at 6 p.m. Friday
The complete tournament schedule is below, as all games will be played at Central Park Diamond “A” hosted by Russell Sage.
GAME 1 - NO. 4 HOUGHTON 5, NO. 1 RUSSELL SAGE 2
No. 4 seed Houghton scored four runs in the fifth inning to jump out to a 5-0 lead, while holding off a late rally to defeat top-seed Russell Sage 5-2 in the E8 Tournament opener Thursday.
The Highlanders opened the scoring in the third inning, scoring without a ball that left the infield on a walk, bunt single, stolen base, second walk and then wild pitch, which scored Jeremiah Chow.
In the fifth inning, the Highlanders took advantage of a pair of errors to score four times. Chris Van Cheri drove in a run with a triple and scored himself on a single by Dylan Boprey.
The Gators would score once in the seventh on a run-scoring double from Evan Grimes and once more in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly by James Lubanski. The Gators threatened in the ninth inning, loading the bases with two outs before Houghton closer Jeremey Wilcox got Dom Caminitti to line out to first base to end the game.
Houghton starting pitcher Ethan Cetton was brilliant, not allowing a hit through the first 6 2/3 innings of the contest. He went eight innings, allowing just three hits and two runs (one earned), while striking out seven batters to earn his fifth win of the season. Wilcox picked up his fifth save of the season in the scoreless ninth inning with a pair of strikeouts.
Houghton out-hit Russell Sage, 7-3. Vincent Lucyszyn was 2-for-5 with a run scored and a stolen base for the Highlanders. Chow scored twice, while Boprey had a pair of hits and RBI.
Caminitti, Brendan Espinal and Grimes had hits for the Gators. Liam Doyle started on the mound and took the loss, allowing five runs (two earned) in four-plus innings. Jaylen Cuevas gave Russell Sage five scoreless innings out of the bullpen, scattering just a pair of hits, while striking out four batters.
GAME 2 - NO. 2 ST. JOHN FISHER 15, NO. 3 UTICA 6
Senior Brian Norsen reached base six times and hit two home runs to lead the No. 2 Cardinals to a 15-6 win over No. 3 Utica in E8 Tournament play.
Norsen drove a solo shot in the third inning and a two-run homer in the sixth inning for his ninth and tenth round trippers of the season. He finished the day a perfect 4-for-4 with two doubles, two homers, four runs scored and four runs batted in, while drawing a pair of walks and stealing a base.
The Cardinals broke open a close game with nine runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to take a 12-2 lead.
James Murphy went 2-for-4 with a double, stolen base and four RBI. Jackson Frey went 3-for-5 with a single, double, triple, three runs scored and two RBI, while Nick Lemire scored three times.
Ethan Fulton picked up his fifth win of the season, allowing five hits and two runs, while striking out three batters in six innings.
Jason Story set a Utica single-season record by slamming his 11th home run of the season. He was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI. Joe Crossley doubled, scored a run and drove in a run, while Lance Berger scored twice.
Looking ahead to Friday, St. John Fisher won two of three regular season meetings against Houghton, while Russell Sage took two of three games from Utica. Action begins at 11 a.m. Friday.
2024 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Schedule
(All games to be hosted by Russell Sage and played at Central Park "A" in Schenectady)
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 – 2:30 p.m. – BOX SCORE
Friday, May 10
Game 3 – No. 3 Utica at No. 1 Russell Sage – 11 a.m. (elimination game) – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 4 – No. 4 Houghton vs. No. 2 St. John Fisher – 2:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 5 – Winning Team of Game 3 vs. Losing Team of Game 4 – 6 p.m. (elimination game) – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Saturday, May 11
Game 6 – Winning Team of Game 4 vs. Winning Team of Game 5 – 1 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 7 – Winning Team of Game 6 vs. Losing Team of Game 6 (If Necessary) – 4:30 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
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