Baseball | 2/21/2025 3:00:00 PM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – The St. John Fisher University baseball team opens the 2025 season with games against Maritime College and No. 6 Johns Hopkins over the weekend in the Baltimore Invitational.

2025 Quick Facts

Head Coach: Brandon Potter (16th season at St. John Fisher)

    Record: 428-193

2024 Record: 26-19 (15-3 E8, E8 Tournament champions)

Postseason Finish: NCAA Regionals

Season In Review  

The St. John Fisher baseball team finished 26-19 and 15-3 in Empire 8 Conference play. The Cardinals went on to win the Empire 8 championship with a dominant 13-4 win over Utica, punching their ticket to the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. Their season ended in the regional round with losses to eventual national champion Misericordia and Middlebury. 

Senior James Murphy was named the 2024 ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove recipient for NCAA DIII third basemen. He also earned several other accolades, including Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year, first-team all-conference, first-team all-region and fourth-team All-America honors. 

Graduate student first baseman Brian Norsen was awarded second-team honors from both the ABCA and D3baseball.com. Sophomore starting pitcher Ethan Fulton was voted to the second team by D3Baseball.com and the third team by ABCA/Rawlings, while senior shortstop Nick Lemire was named to the third team by ABCA/Rawlings. 

Murphy was also named Empire 8 Defensive Player of the Year and Tournament MVP. Murphy, Fulton, Lemire, second baseman Jake Crantz, relief pitchers Connor Walker and Hunter Walsh were named E8 All-Conference first-team performers. Norsen and senior pitcher Patrick McGuire were on all-conference second team. Outfielders Jackson Frey and Dominic Guccia were named all-conference third team. 

Records and Streaks  

• The Cardinals have won four straight Empire 8 championships. 

• The Cardinals are the only current Empire 8 team with multiple conference championships.  

• The Cardinals have won 25 games or more every season under head coach Brandon Potter (excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season).  

Key Returners  

• Junior pitcher Ethan Fulton is coming off a breakout season with an opposing batting average of .222, 64 total strikeouts and five wins. 

• Another key returning player for St. John Fisher is sophomore outfielder Jackson Frey. Frey finished the 2024 season with a .309 batting average, .904 OPS, two home runs, 16 RBI, 15 walks and a perfect fielding percentage.