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St. John Fisher University Athletics

james murphy
Abbie Irons | IG: ironsvisuals
3
Houghton HOUGHTON 16-21
5
Winner SJFU SJFU 25-17
Houghton HOUGHTON
16-21
3
Final
5
SJFU SJFU
25-17
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Houghton HOUGHTON 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 3 5 2
SJFU SJFU 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 5 7 0

W: Lang, Anthony (1-0) L: Nate Tyler (0-2)

Game Recap: Baseball |

James Murphy walks off Houghton, 5-3, to send baseball to E8 Championship Round

SCHENECTADY, N.Y. – Senior third baseman James Murphy hit a walk-off two-run home run in the 10th inning of Friday's Empire 8 Baseball Championship Tournament winners' bracket game, propelling the Cardinals past No. 4 seed Houghton, 5-3, and into the tournament's Championship Saturday.

The Cardinals, now 2-0 in the double-elimination tournament, are a win away from clinching their fourth straight conference title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III baseball tournament.

Murphy ultimately finished the day 2-for-5 with three RBI, driving in the first run of the game on an RBI groundout in the first inning to make it 1-0. That score would hold until the seventh innings, as senior pitcher Patrick McGuire worked 6.1 innings, allowing just four hits and striking out four until he ran into trouble in the seventh, giving up his only two earned runs of the game as the Highlanders jumped ahead, 2-1. 

Fisher jumped back ahead, 3-2, in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a two-out two-run single by senior Nick Lemire. Houghton tied the game again in the top of the ninth, however, and the two teams went into extra innings. 

After senior reliever Anthony Lang put down the Highlanders in order in the top of the tenth, it seemed the Cardinals would suffer the same fate, as the first two Cardinals hitters were put out. Graduate student first baseman Brian Norsen hit a two-out single, however, paving the way for Murphy's walk-off home run. 

Lang earned the win in relief, going 1.2 hitless innings while striking out two. 

The Cardinals play again on Saturday against the winner of Saturday night's losers' bracket game between Houghton and No. 3 seeded Utica. A win in the first game would end the tournament and win the conference for the Cards, while a loss would force a second and final game on Saturday that would be winner-take-all for the conference title.

First pitch is 1 p.m.

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