Playoff-Bound Gators Close Regular Season with a Split
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Playoff-bound Russell Sage College Baseball wrapped up its regular season by splitting Sunday's home doubleheader against Elmira.
Game 1
Game 1
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
|
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3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 9 | X | 20 | 16 | 4 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 2 |
|
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 0 |
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Playoff-bound Russell Sage College Baseball wrapped up its regular season by splitting Sunday's home doubleheader against Elmira.
After scoring 25 runs in Saturday's weekend series opener against the Soaring Eagles, the Gators scored double-digit runs for the 18th time this spring, winning the seven-inning game 20-5.
After junior pitcher Xavier Garcia (Greenfield Center, NY/Saratoga Springs/SUNY Adirondack), set the visitors down 1-2-3 in the first, senior outfielder Evan Grimes (Clifton Park, NY/Shenendehowa/SUNY Adirondack) got RSC started quickly with a leadoff inside-the-park homer.
The Gators (25-13/18-6 E8), up 8-3 after two innings, added three runs in the fifth and nine in the sixth of the first game.
RSC, which set the program's record for wins in a season on Saturday, had six players register multiple hits in the victory.
Senior infielder Jeff Stearns (Vergennes, VT/Vergennes Union) went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI, while junior catcher Collin Casey (Marlboro, NY/Marlboro/Saint Rose) went 3-for-4 with a homer, three RBI and a run scored.
Designated hitter James Lubanski (Port Washington, NY/Paul D. Schreiber), a graduate student, went 2-for-4 with a home run, four RBI and four runs scored. The program's career leader in RBI, hits, and doubles tallied career hit number 150 across the twinbill.
Junior infielder Anthony Rizzo (Latham, NY/Shaker/HVCC) drove in five runs as part of a 2-for-3 game, while Grimes went 2-for-4 with four runs scored and two RBI.
Junior catcher Connor Stone went 2-for-3 with four RBI to pace Elmira (13-25/7-17 E8) in the first game.
In the nightcap, the Gators rallied from a 6-1 deficit to get within one on two different occasions before falling 8-7.
Grimes went 3-for-5 with a homer, two runs scored and three RBI in the second contest. Casey was 2-for-4 with a solo home run, while senior shortstop Zachary Figueras (Apopka, FL/Windermere) went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and a homer.
RSC, which set a program single-season record for E8 wins with 18, will be the two seed in next week's Conference Championship Tournament. The double-elimination portion of the Tournament, held at SUNY Brockport, will begin Thursday, May 8 with the Gators facing Saint John Fisher, the three seed.
Gator Bites with Papa John's: RSC, in only its fourth season as a program, 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 12-0 start in E8 play the spring…The Gators clinched a spot in the E8 Championship Tournament for the fourth time with an April 23rd win vs. SUNY Poly…RSC, which has qualified for the E8 Playoffs in each of its four season as a program, will be the two seed in the double-elimination portion of the Tournament, which begins May 8 at SUNY Brockport…RSC has set program single-season records for both wins and E8 Conference victories...Lubanski, Stearns, graduate pitcher Joe DeGroot (Clay, NY/Cicero-North Syracuse), and Grimes 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…Rizzo, Casey, 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…Garcia 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…Numerous Gators have hit career milestones this season…Lubanksi surpassed the 100 career RBI mark during the three-game series sweep of Alfred…In April, senior outfielder Leandro Guzman (New Britain, CT/New Britain), Russell, and Figueras both tallied career hit number 100…On the mound, senior relief pitcher Jaylen Cuevas (Bronx, NY/Fordham Prep) became the second Gator to record 100 career strikeouts while saving a 4-2 victory vs. Gordon on March 14...He headed into the postseason atop the E8 with three saves...Casey slashed .583/1.333/.706 with seven runs scored, two homers and seven RBI across four games this week...Stearns closed the regular season ranked second in the Conference with a .647 slugging percentage...His 1.127 ops and six homers were both fourth on the circuit...Figueras, tied for sixth in the E8 with 43 runs scored, ranked third in the Conference with 14 doubles...Lubanski is the program's career leader in RBI (131), hits (150) and doubles (42)...The grad student sat third in the E8 with 47 RBI and fifth with 49 hits...On the mound, Garcia was third among Conference hurlers with 65 strikeouts...Opposing lineups were hitting just .184 off the southpaw, second-worst in the E8...DeGroot headed into the postseason with a 3.77 ERA across 57.1 innings pitched, good for fifth and third respectively in the Conference.
