Softball | 5/6/2025 7:54:10 AM
Top-seed St. John Fisher University is looking to earn its third straight Empire 8 Championship, as eight teams will vie for the 2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship, which begins on Tuesday, May 6 with No. 5 seed Nazareth University hosting No. 8 Elmira College and No. 6 Russell Sage College hosting No. 7 SUNY Poly in opening round contests. The winners both advance to the six-team double elimination tournament, which takes place from Thursday, May 8 to Saturday, May 10 at St. John Fisher with Alfred University, SUNY Geneseo and Utica University also set to compete. The tournament winner will receive an automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, which begins May 15.
The 2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship schedule is below. For the most up to date information on this year's championship, follow the Empire 8 Conference on X and Instagram (@Empire8).
Final 2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship Seeds
No. 1 – St. John Fisher University (18-4 E8, 26-13 Overall)
No. 2 – Alfred University (18-4 E8, 28-9 Overall)
No. 3 – SUNY Geneseo (17-5 E8, 28-10 Overall)
No. 4 – Utica University (17-5 E8, 22-10 Overall)
No. 5 – Nazareth University (6-8 E8, 13-20 Overall)
No. 6 – Russell Sage College (12-10 E8, 16-23 Overall
No. 7 – SUNY Poly (12-10 E8, 18-15 Overall)
No. 8 – Elmira College (9-13 E8, 12-23-1 Overall)
2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship Schedule.
Empire 8 First Round (Single Elimination, Hosted by Higher Seeds)
Tuesday, May 6
No. 8 Elmira College at No. 5 Nazareth University – 10:30 a.m.
No. 7 SUNY Poly at No. 6 Russell Sage College – 4 p.m.
Empire 8 Double Elimination Championship (Hosted by St. John Fisher University)
Thursday, May 8
Game 1 – Lowest first round winner seed at No. 1 St. John Fisher University – 9 am
Game 2 – Second lowest first round winner vs. No. 2 Alfred University – 11:30 am
Game 3 – Utica University vs. SUNY Geneseo – 2 pm
Game 4 – Loser Team from Game 1 vs. Losing Team from Game 2 (Elimination game) – 4:30 pm
Day 2 (Friday)
Game 5 – Winning Team from Game 1 vs. Losing Team from Game 3 – 9 am
Game 6 – Winning Team from Game 2 vs. Winning Team from Game 3 – 11:30 am
Game 7 – TBD – 2 pm
Game 8 – TBD – 4:30 pm
Saturday, May 10
Game 9 – TBD – 11 am
Game 10 – TBD – 1:30 pm (Potential Championship Game)
Sunday, May 11 (If Necessary)
Game 11 – Winner Game 10 vs. Loser Game 10 (if necessary) – 11 am
Top-seed St. John Fisher, the two-time defending E8 Champions, enters the 2025 Championship having finished 18-4 in league play and is attempting to win its 10th Empire 8 Tournament Championship. The Cardinals are 26-13 overall and have six starters batting at least .325 in 2025. Emily McManus leads the Cardinals with a .442 batting average and 1.429 OPS to go along with 13 home runs and 39 RBI. She has scored a team-high 40 runs, while drawing 22 walks. McManus is slugging .894. slugging percentage and 1.349 OPS. Mari Spitz also has 13 homers and a team-high 45 RBI. St. John Fisher has a pair of top starting pitchers in Ainsley Evanetski and Cassidy Ormond and. Evanetski is 12-6 with a 2.33 earned run average and 1.12 WHIP, while adding 163 strikeouts in just 120 innings.Ormond is 12-4 with a 3.54 ERA.
No. 2 seed Alfred enters the tournament with a 28-9 overall record, having finished 18-4 in league play to share the regular season crown with St. John Fisher. The Saxons are making their 17th appearance in the E8 Tournament and are looking to win their third league crown in the last five seasons and fifth overall. Alfred is hitting .378 as a team with four starters batting at least .430. Jessica Remm is enjoying a tremendous season, batting .483 with a 1.434 OPS, 15 doubles, eight homers and 55 RBI. Delaney Prather is batting .437, while Abigail Gatza is hitting .435 with a 1.135 OPS, seven homers and 37 RBI and Molly Whitmyer is batting .431, has a 1.214 OPS, eight homers and 46 RBI. Samantha Vidal leads the league with 39 stolen bases in 41 attempts. On the mound, Kendall Steward, has a league-best 19 wins to go along with 128 strikeouts in 130 innings pitched. She is also batting .380 in 2025.
SUNY Geneseo is the No. 3 seed in the Empire 8 Tournament in its first year as a league member. The Knights are 28-10 overall, having finished 17-5 in Empire 8 play. First-year Molly Griffin leads the Knights with a .505 batting average and 1.186 OPS. She has 47 hits, including 12 doubles and 28 RBI. Kaitlyn Schmitz is hitting .410 with 27 RBI and has also added nine wins on the mound, while Ray Schumaker leads Geneseo with five homers and 32 RBI. Gabriella Petroski is 14-2 on the mound with a 2.73 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. She finished 11-0 in E8 play.
Utica enters the Empire 8 Tournament as the No. 4 seed with a 22-10 overall record, having finished 17-5 in league play. Brooke Beleza, Rachel Little, and Meghan Paul all have recorded an OPS over 1.000 on the season. Beleza is hitting a team-best .468 with 51 hits and 35 runs scored, while Little is hitting .432 with three homers and 29 RBI. Paul and Abigail Sacks both have a team-best four home runs. Sacks has also driven in 36 runs. Kylie Murray has nine wins on the mound for Utica, who advanced to the E8 Championship series last season.
Nazareth is the No. 5 seed in the 2025 E8 Tournament, having finished 14-8 in league play and has 20 wins in 2025. They are in the E8 Tourney for the sixth time in program history and third time in four seasons. Kaijah Alexander and Morgan Russo form a potent 1-2 offensive duo. Alexander is among the national leaders with a .524 batting average, remarkable 1.629 OPS, 16 home runs and 56 RBI. She is slugging 1.048 on the season. Russo is batting .486 with a 1.431 OPS, 27 extra base-hits, including 16 doubles, 10 homers and 34 RBI.
Russell Sage is in the Empire 8 Tournament for the fifth straight season, having captured the No. 6 seed with a 12-10 record in conference play. The Gators have six regulars batting at least .300 on the season. Annalise Tyler is hitting .443 with a 1.037 OPS, 39 runs scored, 14 extra-base hits and 24 RBI. On the mound, Leah Madore has nine wins to go along with 14 complete games. Madore also has thrown 121 innings and among the league leaders with 156 strikeouts.
SUNY Poly, the No. 7 seed, went 12-10 in league play and enters the tourney with an 18-15 overall mark. Kimberly Birmingham has a 1.009 OPS to go along with team-best totals of four homers and 27 RBI. Pitcher Trinity Crinelli has struck out 171 batters in 131 innings pitched to go along with a 10-9 mark and 2.88 ERA this season.
No. 8 seed Elmira won nine games in league play this season. The Soaring Eagles are in the E8 Tourney for the eighth time in program history and second time in the last three seasons. Brianna Ramstine leads Elmira with a .363 batting average and 1.064 OPS to go along with four homers, 20 RBI and 21 walks.
Tuesday’s first round game between Nazareth and Elmira is the third meeting of the season between the two programs. The two teams split a doubleheader at Nazareth on April 13, with the Golden Flyers earning a 6-3 win in game one and the Soaring Eagles rebounding to win game two, 4-2. Russell Sage and SUNY Poly met on April 30 in Utica with the Gators earning the sweep, winning by scores of 5-4 and 3-1.
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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