
Gators Offense Explodes in Pair of Wins Over Utica
Russell Sage College baseball played a pair against Utica on Wednesday evening, scoring a total of 42 runs to move to 12-0 in Empire 8 conference contests.
ALBANY, N.Y. – Russell Sage College baseball played a pair against Utica on Wednesday evening, scoring a total of 42 runs to move to 12-0 in Empire 8 conference contests.
Game one was a resumption from April 2, where the Gators and Pioneers were square at seven heading into the top of the fifth. In the five innings the teams played on Wednesday, they combined for 24 runs as RSC pulled out a 24-14 victory.
Including the first four innings from two weeks prior, five Russell Sage batters tallied a trio of hits in the victory.
Seniors Jeff Stearns (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union) and Zachary Figueras (Apopka, FL/Windermere) led the way with four RBis in their three-hit days. Junior Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose) drove in three runs and had three hits, while senior Leandro Guzman (New Britain, CT/New Britain) knocked in a pair on his three hits.
Senior Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) joined the party with three hits of his own, one of which a deep shot over the right field wall in the eight run second inning.
Game two was much of the same for RSC, coming out of the gates hot and scoring 14 runs in the first two innings.
Five Gators had multiple hits in the win, headlined by a five-RBI performance from graduate student James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber) and three-RBI days from seniors Jared Russell (Colonie, NY/Colonie) and Jorge Oropeza (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena High School).
Stearns and Figueras matched their statlines again, each driving in a pair of runs on a pair of hits.
Grimes was excellent on the mound in the seven-inning contest, striking out four in four hitless innings.
Looking ahead, RSC (18-7/12-0 E8) travels to Brockport this weekend for a series with the #15 ranked Golden Eagles.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: RSC looks to build upon the most successful season in program history in 2025…Coming off a 16-2 record in Empire 8 Conference play and an E8 Regular Season Championship, the Gators return 25 players to go along with 18 newcomers…RSC got off to a 10-0 start in E8 play the spring…Graduate outfielder James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), senior infielder Jeff Stearns (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union), graduate pitcher Joe DeGroot (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), and senior pitcher/outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa) highlight the returners…Lubanski, Stearns, and Grimes made first team All-E8 conference, while DeGroot found himself on the second team…Four others earned all-conference honors in 2024, including senior outfielder Jared Russell (Colonie, NY/Colonie), who was named third team All-E8… Junior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC), junior catcher Colin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose), and graduate pitcher Freddie Callo (Milton, NY/Marlboro/Utica) headline the newcomers that Head Coach Nick Pontari brought in…Pontari and his staff were named E8 Coaching Staff of the Year in 2024…Stearns was selected the E8 Player of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 16…He hit .435 with 10 runs scored, two homers, and 10 RBI across six games…DeGroot was chosen the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday, March 30…He allowed just one hit across six shutout innings to help RSC start E8 play 3-0 at Houghton…Junior Xavier Garcia (Greenfield Center, NY/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack) was selected the E8 Pitcher of the Week for the periods ending Sunday, April 6 and Sunday, April 13…The lefty allowed zero earned runs and struck out 11 Keuka batters across six innings of work in the home win on April 4…He then tossed seven shutout innings to get the win on April 11 vs. Alfred…Garcia allowed just one hit and whiffed 12 Saxon batters to move to 3-0 in his RSC debut spring.