Baseball | 5/21/2026 10:00:00 AM
SUNY Geneseo used a strong spring semester to maintain its year-long lead and win the 2025-26 Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup, announced by the league on Wednesday, May 20. The Knights finished with an 0.894 composite percentage to claim their second consecutive E8 Commissioner’s Cup title.
SUNY Geneseo won 11 league championships during the 2025-26 season, while runner-up St. John Fisher University won eight Empire 8 Championships. Overall, nine full-time Empire 8 member institutions won at least one league championship this season. For the complete E8 Commissioner's Cup standings, please see below.
The Knights earned 45.75 out of a possible 50 points from their spring sports teams, with E8 Championships in men’s and women’s outdoor track and field, a regular season crown in softball and runner-up honors in women’s lacrosse. In the fall, Geneseo won the Empire 8 men’s and women’s cross country, field hockey and men’s soccer championships and annexed men’s and women’s indoor track and field, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and women’s basketball titles during the winter season. Geneseo finished in the top half of the standings in 19 of the 20 sports they competed in during the year.
St. John Fisher was the top Empire 8 team during the spring season, leaping from fourth after the winter season to finish second overall with a 0.764 composite percentage. The Cardinals recorded 70 out of a possible 76 points (0.921) during the spring, on the strength of Empire 8 titles in men’s tennis, men’s and women’s lacrosse, men’s golf, and men’s volleyball in addition to runner-up finishes in softball and women’s outdoor track and field. St. John Fisher also won Empire 8 women’s soccer and women’s volleyball championships in addition to the women’s golf invitational crown during the fall.
SUNY Brockport finished third overall with a percentage total of 0.715, winning the Empire 8’s inaugural women’s flag football championship, while recording runner-up finishes in men’s and women’s soccer, men’s indoor and outdoor track and field, men’s basketball, and men’s and women’s swimming and diving
Nazareth placed fourth overall, recording a percentage total of 0.675, with women’s hockey earning an E8 title and advancing to the NCAA Division III Championship game. In addition, the Golden Flyers earned runner-up honors in field hockey, women’s indoor track and field and men’s lacrosse, while finishing as the E8 regular season champion in women’s basketball and co-champions in men’s basketball.
Utica University finished fifth in the E8 standings with a composite score of 0.603. The Pioneers won the Empire 8 crown in men’s ice hockey and were the top E8 full-time member scoring team in football. In addition, Utica finished as the runner-up in men’s cross country. Houghton University placed sixth in the E8 standings with a composite score of 0.467, earning runner-up finishes in women’s basketball and women’s cross country, while Hartwick won the 2025 Empire 8 women’s tennis title and placed seventh overall with a percentage total of 0.465.
Russell Sage College, Alfred University, Elmira College, SUNY Poly and Keuka College round out the final 2025-26 Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup standings after the winter season. Russell Sage claimed its first Empire 8 baseball championship, while Alfred won the softball title for the second consecutive year. Keuka won its first Empire 8 Championship since joining the league in 2020, securing the men’s basketball title.
Commissioner’s Cup points are awarded based on each team's finish in the Empire 8 conference standings at the completion of the regular season and post-season. Points are awarded on a scale dependent upon the number of schools that sponsor the sport (affiliate members are not calculated into the point scale). A team's regular season finish will be added to its post-season finish and divided by two for the final total for that sport.
Teams tied for a position in the regular season standings are ranked based on tiebreaker scenarios. The actual number of points earned is then divided by the amount of possible points for each school based on conference-sponsored sports to determine their overall percentage.
2025-26 Final Empire 8 Commissioner’s Cup Standings
| Institution |
Actual |
Possible |
Percentage |
| SUNY Geneseo |
168 |
188 |
0.89361702 |
| St. John Fisher |
162.75 |
213 |
0.76408451 |
| SUNY Brockport |
141.5 |
198 |
0.71464646 |
| Nazareth |
141 |
209 |
0.67464115 |
| Utica |
121.75 |
202 |
0.60272277 |
| Houghton |
78.5 |
168 |
0.4672619 |
| Hartwick |
88.25 |
190 |
0.46447368 |
| Russell Sage |
75 |
181 |
0.41436464 |
| Alfred |
78.25 |
196 |
0.39923469 |
| Elmira |
42.25 |
109 |
0.38761468 |
| SUNY Poly |
39.25 |
135 |
0.29074074 |
| Keuka |
33.5 |
138 |
0.24275362 |
2025-26 Empire 8 Champions
Fall
Men’s Cross Country: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Cross Country: SUNY Geneseo
Field Hockey: SUNY Geneseo
Football: SUNY Cortland (Utica top full-member E8 finisher)
Women’s Golf (Invitational): St. John Fisher
Men’s Soccer: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Soccer: St. John Fisher
Women’s Volleyball: St. John Fisher
Women’s Tennis: Hartwick
Winter
Men’s Basketball: Keuka
Women’s Basketball: SUNY Geneseo
Men’s Ice Hockey: Utica
Women’s Ice Hockey: Nazareth
Men’s Swimming and Diving: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Swimming and Diving: SUNY Geneseo
Men’s Indoor Track & Field: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Indoor Track & Field: SUNY Geneseo
Spring
Baseball: Russell Sage
Women’s Flag Football: SUNY Brockport
Men’s Golf: St. John Fisher
Men’s Lacrosse: St. John Fisher
Women’s Lacrosse: St. John Fisher
Softball: Alfred
Men’s Tennis: St. John Fisher
Men’s Outdoor Track & Field: SUNY Geneseo
Women’s Outdoor Track & Field: SUNY Geneseo
Men’s Volleyball: St. John Fisher