Softball | 5/10/2023 5:41:00 PM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University softball team are the no. 2 seed in the Empire 8 Conference Softball Championship. They travel to Alfred University for a double-elimination tournament starting on Thursday, May 11. With the Saxons as the no. 1 seed, Russell Sage College and Elmira College fill out the remainder of the participants.
 
Reclaiming The Title
The Cardinals have not won the Empire 8 Championship since 2019, when they completed the three-peat. After a canceled season in 2020, Alfred have been crowned champions in back-to-back seasons.
 
Fisher enters the 2022 Championship having finished 12-4 in league play and is attempting to its eighth Empire 8 Tournament Championship. The Cardinals are 25-11 overall and have six starters batting at least .300 in 2023. Madi Rose is batting a team-high .369 with 31 runs scored and 21 walks.
 
Allie Klonowski, the 2022 E8 Co-Player of the Year is batting .346 with a 1.030 OPS and a team-high seven homers and 33 RBI. Mari Spitz had added three homers, while Kelly Cournoyer has two homers and 23 RBI. St. John Fisher has three top starting pitchers in Jess Paterson, Cassidy Ormond and Ainsley Evanetski. Patterson is 10-5 with 96 strikeouts (second in the E8) in 84 2/3 innings. Ormond is 8-1 with a 1.34 ERA, while Evanetski has a 1.84 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and 60 strikeouts to just 11 walks.
 
Top Seed Saxons
Alfred enters the tournament with a 24-12-1 overall record, having finished 14-2 in league play to win the 2023 E8 Regular Season title. The Saxons are making their 15th appearance in the E8 Tournament and are looking to win their third straight league crown and fourth overall.
 
Alfred is hitting .341 as a team with five starters batting at least .340 Mya Wells is enjoying a tremendous season, batting .418 with a 1.153 OPS, seven homers and 41 RBI (second in the league). First-year standout Jessica Remm is right behind Wells with a .400 batting average, 13 doubles and an E8 best 42 RBI.
 
Lugo is second in the league with 25 stolen bases and holds the Empire 8 career record for steals with 169. She is batting .342 with a .935 OPS, 38 runs scored, 16 extra base hits (including two homers) and 26 RBI. On the mound, Arden Hatch and Megan Bennett are a strong duo. Hatch is 12-4 with a league-best total of 102 strikeouts in 99 2/3 innings, while opposing hitters are batting just .220 off of her. Bennett, the 2022 E8 Championship Most Valuable Player, has eight wins and 75 strikeouts in 86 innings pitched.  
 
No. 3 Seed Gators
Russell Sage is in the Empire 8 Tournament for the third straight season, having captured the No. 3 seed with an 11-5, record in conference play. Graduate student Arianna Papas, the 2022 E8 Co-Player of the Year leads all Empire 8 players with a .467 batting average, .808 slugging percentage and remarkable 1.340 OPS. She has 56 hits in 2023, with 25 going for extra bases, including 15 doubles, six home runs and 36 RBI. She has also stolen 11 bases.
 
Taylor Dicranian has 12 doubles to go along with three home runs and 26 RBI. Madalyn Ring is batting .378, while Ciana Santana has a .322 batting average. On the mound Dicranian and Leah Madore have identical 10-8 records along with 16 complete games each. Dicranian has walked just five batters in 111 innings pitched.
 
No. 5 Seed Elmira
The Soaring Eagles, which has completed its fair share of comebacks this season, pulled off the most important of the 2023 campaign on Tuesday afternoon. Elmira erased a 4-2 deficit by scoring five runs in the top of the seventh inning to defeat the No. 4 Nazareth College (14-17), 7-5 in the opening round of the 2023 Empire 8 Softball Championship Tournament. The Soaring Eagles will head to the double elimination bracket with a matchup set against top-seed and host Alfred University.
 
The Soaring Eagles are hitting .280 as a team and have three starters batting at least .300. Shortstop Kaitlyn Belmont leads the team with a .352 batting average and 1.016 OPS to go along with three home runs and 23 RBI. She is also second in the league with 24 walks. Amelia Martin leads the Soaring Eagles with 17 extra-base hits, including five home runs and 27 RBI, while batting .339. Madison Brown-Bloom is batting .340 with 29 RBI. Asia Curkendall leads the conference with 27 stolen bases in as many attempts. On the mound, Maryann Sobel is 12-10 with a 3.94 ERA and 11 complete games.
 
2023 Empire 8 Championship Tournament Schedule 
 
Tuesday, May 9 (First Round at Nazareth)
No. 5 Elmira defeated No. 4 Nazareth, 7-5 – BOX SCORE

All Double Elimination Tournament Games at Alfred Thursday, May 11
Game 1 – No. 3 Russell Sage vs. No. 2 St. John Fisher – 2 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 2 – No. 5 Elmira at No. 1 Alfred - 4:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS

Friday, May 12
Game 3 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 – 10 a.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 4 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 –  (elimination game) -  12:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 5 – Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4 – (elimination game) -  3 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, May 13
Game 6 – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5 – 12 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 7 – Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6 (If Necessary) – 2:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
 
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