Baseball | 5/9/2025 8:32:07 PM
Top-seed SUNY Brockport (35-3-2) and No. 2 seed Russell Sage College (27-14) will meet in the championship round of the 2025 Empire 8 Baseball Tournament after advancing through on Friday, May 9. The nationally-ranked defeated Russell Sage, 1-0 in the winners bracket game on Friday afternoon. No. 5 Houghton University (24-21) opened the day by defeating No. 3 seed and four-time defending league champion St. John Fisher University (21-19-1), 16-10 in an elimination game before Russell Sage eliminated Houghton, 4-3 in 10 innings in the nightcap Friday.
SUNY Brockport and Russell Sage will meet in the game six of the tournament at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 10 from Clark V. Whited Baseball Complex on the campus of Brockport. 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. The top-seeded Golden Eagles are in the E8 Championship round in its first season as a league member, while Russell Sage is in the championship round for the second time (2023) and is looking to win its first Empire 8 Championship.
GAME 3 – NO. 5 HOUGHTON 16, NO. 3 ST. JOHN FISHER 10
No. 5 seed Houghton kept its postseason hosts afloat by slamming 19 hits and scoring the final six runs of the game to break a 10-10 tie and eliminate four-time defending champion St. John Fisher, 16-10 on Friday morning.
Kanta Ueno was the offensive star for the Highlanders, going 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run, four runs scored and career-high seven RBI. Nate Hall went 4-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI. Vincent Lucyszyn and Christian Tortorici scored four runs apiece, as Houghton’s 2, 3, and 4 hitters combined to score 12 of Houghton’s 16 runs.
Daniel Allard earned the win in relief for the Highlanders, allowing a run in 1 1/3 innings. Nate Tyler pitched the final two scoreless innings, allowing just one hit
Jack Griffin drove in three runs for the Cardinals, while Jordan Perry was 2-for-5 with two RBI and Ryan Vanderlip scored four runs.
The Cardinals won the last four Empire 8 Championships before this season from 2021-2024.
GAME 4 – NO. 1 SUNY BROCKPORT 1, NO. 2 RUSSELL SAGE 0
SUNY Brockport hurler Anthony Lapine and Russell Sage starter Xavier Garcia locked up in the lowest scoring Empire 8 Championship Tournament game in league history, the first 1-0 game since the league went to tournament play in 2015. Both starters went the distance, marking the first time in E8 postseason history that both pitchers fired a complete game in the same contest.
Garcia was brilliant for the Gators, holding the potent Brockport offense to just one run on six hits in the game. He walked one batter and struck out six in the 111-pitch outing.
Lapine was even better for the Golden Eagles, limiting Russell Sage to just four hits without a walk, while striking out eight batters. He needed just 103 pitches to get through the nine-inning effort, while facing just 32 batters. Lapine moved to 9-0 on the season and lowered his league-leading earned run average to 1.19 and WHIP to 0.84.
Brockport scored the game’s lone run in the bottom of the second inning, as Victor Alongi singled home Jason Story, who was hit by a pitch earlier in the frame. Story would be hit by a pitch three times in the game, upping his season total to 19.
GAME 5 – NO. 2 RUSSELL SAGE, NO. 5 HOUGHTON
The Gators rallied from a 3-0 fifth inning deficit to outlast Houghton on a walk-off balk, 4-3 in 10 innings and advance to the Empire 8 Championship round.
Like earlier in the day, the Gators found themselves looked in an excellent pitchers duel, as Evan Grimes of Sage and Ethan Cetton of Houghton matched zeroes over the first four innings.
Houghton put across three runs in the top of the fifth inning, the big hit coming from Christian Tortorici, who doubled in two runs with a shot to the wall in right field. Sage would respond with three runs of its own in the bottom of the fifth, as with two outs and two runners on, Grimes doubled in a pair to make it 3-2 and came across to score on a single by James Lubanski.
From there, Grimes allowed just one hit and faced the minimum 15 batters over the next five innings. Cetton would pitch a scoreless sixth inning before giving way to Nate Tyler, who continued his dominant tournament out of the bullpen, throwing three more scoreless innings of relief.
In the 10th inning, Lubanski walked before back-to-back force outs at second base had Jared Russell on first base with two outs. Russell stole second and moved to third base on a throwing error. With a 1-0 count on Collin Casey, a balk was called, allowing Russell to score the winning run.
Grimes went the distance, striking out a career-high 15 batters over 10 innings. He scattered three hits and had three walks to keep Sage’s season alive.
Cetton, who earned the win for Houghton in its 7-3 win over SUNY Poly in the Empire 8 first round game on Tuesday night, was excellent on short rest, allowing three hits, while striking out six batters in six innings.
2025 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Tournament Schedule
Tuesday, May 6 (At Higher Seed – Houghton)
No. 5 Houghton University defeated No. 6 SUNY Poly, 7-3 – BOX SCORE
Thursday, May 8 (at SUNY Brockport)
Wild Card – No. 5 Houghton University defeated No. 4 Utica University, 23-9 – BOX SCORE
Game 1 – No. 2 Russell Sage College defeated No. 3 St. John Fisher, 6-5 – BOX SCORE
Game 2 – No. 1 SUNY Brockport defeated No. 5 Houghton University, 11-1 – BOX SCORE
Friday, May 9 (at SUNY Brockport)
Game 3 – No. 5 Houghton defeated No. 3 St. John Fisher, 16-10 – BOX SCORE (St. John Fisher eliminated)
Game 4 – No. 1 SUNY Brockport defeated No. 2 Russell Sage, 1-0 – BOX SCORE
Game 5 – No. 2 Russell Sage defeated No. 5 Houghton, 4-3 (10 innings) – BOX SCORE (Houghton eliminated)
Saturday, May 10 (at SUNY Brockport)
Game 6 – No. 2 Russell Sage at No. 1 SUNY Brockport – 11 a.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 7 – No. 2 Russell Sage at No. 1 SUNY Brockport (if necessary) – 2:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
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