Baseball | 5/10/2023 5:52:00 PM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University baseball team will host the 2023 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Tournament starting on Thursday, May 11 at 12 p.m. The Cardinals finished as the no. 1 seed with an undefeated 18-0 record in conference play. They will welcome Utica University, Houghton University and Russell Sage College to Dugan Yard for the double-elimination format post-season.

Attempt At Three-Peat
Top-seed Fisher enters the 2023 Championship having out-scored opponents, 184-47. The Cardinals are attempting to win their third straight Empire 8 Tournament Championship and fifth overall in program history. Five players are batting at least .325 in 2023. Noah Campanelli, the reigning Empire 8 Player of the Year, is in the top-15 nationally in average, batting .469 with league-best totals of 52 runs scored and 75 hits to go along with 30 extra base hits and 39 RBI. He also has 48 stolen bases, which is second in all of Division III and an OPS of 1.293.
 
James Murphy is tied for 13th in Division III with 14 homers and tied for sixth nationally with 62 RBI. He has an OPS of 1.152 this season. Ben Lavery has 12 home runs and 33 runs batted in this season, while Brian Norsen has nine homers and 46 RBI, while recording a 1.148 OPS. The Cardinals have hit a league-high 53 home runs as a team (tied for 11th nationally) this season, are hitting .315 while averaging 8.62 runs per game. Patrick McGuire went 6-0 on the mound, allowing just 14 hits and three runs in 36 innings of work during league play.
 
No. 2 Seed Pioneers
Utica enters the tournament with a 23-13 overall mark in 2023, having finished 13-5 in league play to earn the No. 2 seed. The Pioneers are in the E8 Tournament for the sixth time in program history and attempting to win their first league crown, having finished as E8 runner-up in each of the last two seasons.
 
Dom Fasolo leads the Pioneers with a .382 batting average and 1.076 OPS, to go along with three home runs and 29 RBI. John Son is right behind with a .364 batting average, 1.027 OPS to go along with team-best totals of four homers and 42 RBI. He also has 19 extra-base hits. Joe Battista is batting .309 with 25 RBI, while Jong Longeretta has a .467 on-base percentage and 11 steals. Joe Crossley has scored a team-best 41 runs, while drawing 24 walks, while Brendan May has First-year standout Kooper Knabe is 7-1 with a 1.59 earned run average and a 1.04 WHIP to go along with 43 strikeouts and a league-high four complete games.
 
No. 3 Seed Highlanders
Houghton is in the Empire 8 Tournament for the fourth time in program history. The No. 3 seeded Highlanders finished the regular season with an 11-7 mark in league play and have 19 wins overall in 2023. The Highlanders are hitting over .300. Zach Parr leads Houghton in several offensive categories, including batting average (.381), on-base percentage (.481), slugging percentage (.590), OPS (1.071), hits (40), doubles (11), home runs (3), RBI (27) and walks (21).
 
Jeremy Wilcox is batting .343, while Davis McMillan has a .315 average with a pair of homers. Outfielder Jason Kauffeldt is second in the league with 28 stolen bases. Hunter Kendall has enjoyed a tremendous season on the mound, with a league-high 72 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched. He is 4-3 with a 2.73 earned average, while opponents have hit just .195 against him. Ryan Newtown is tied with Hunter for the team lead in wins.
 
No. 4 Seed Gators
Russell Sage earned the No. 4 seed and is in the E8 Tourney for the second consecutive season after finishing 9-9 in league play, and 16-23 overall. Jared Russell leads the Gators in hitting with a .387 batting average, while James Lubanski is hitting .338 with 15 doubles and 31 RBI. Brendan Espinal has team-high totals of 49 hits, 33 RBI and 20 stolen bases. The Gators have five regulars batting at least .300 and are second in the league with 93 stolen bases. Christian Brown leads Russell Sage with four home runs. Matthew Denatale leads the Gators with four wins on the mound, while Liam Doyle has 52 strikeouts in a team-high 52 2/3 innings. Cameron Anderson has a team-best two saves.
 
2023 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Schedule
(All games to be played at St. John Fisher)

Thursday, May 11
Game 1 – No. 4 Russell Sage at No. 1 St. John Fisher – 12 p.m.
Game 2 – No. 3 Houghton vs. No. 2 Utica – 3:30 p.m.

Friday, May 12
Game 3 – Losing Team of Game 1 vs. Losing Team of Game 2 – 9:30 a.m. (elimination game)
Game 4 – Winning Team of Game 1 vs. Winning Team of Game 2 – 1 p.m.
Game 5 – Winning Team of Game 3 vs. Losing Team of Game 4 – 4:30 p.m. (elimination game)
 
Saturday, May 13
Game 6 – Winning Team of Game 4 vs. Winning Team of Game 5 – 12 p.m.
Game 7 – Winning Team of Game 6 vs. Losing Team of Game 6 (If Necessary) – 3:30 p.m. 
 
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