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Softball Going For Third Consecutive E8 Title On Home Field

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Empire 8 Softball Championship Tournament

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2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship Tournament

Top-seed St. John Fisher University is looking to earn its third straight Empire 8 Championship, as eight teams will vie for the 2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship, which begins on Tuesday, May 6 with No. 5 seed Nazareth University hosting No. 8 Elmira College and No. 6 Russell Sage College hosting No. 7 SUNY Poly in opening round contests. The winners both advance to the six-team double elimination tournament, which takes place from Thursday, May 8 to Saturday, May 10 at St. John Fisher with Alfred University, SUNY Geneseo and Utica University also set to compete. The tournament winner will receive an automatic berth into the 2025 NCAA Division III Softball Championship, which begins May 15.
 
The 2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship schedule is below. For the most up to date information on this year's championship, follow the Empire 8 Conference on X and Instagram (@Empire8).

Site: Higher Seed (First Round No. 5 vs. No. 8 and No. 6 vs. No. 7) - Top-seed for six-team double elimiination tournament

2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship Tournament Participants
No. 1 – St. John Fisher University (18-4 E8, 26-13 Overall)
No. 2 – Alfred University (18-4 E8, 28-9 Overall)
No. 3 – SUNY Geneseo (17-5 E8, 28-10 Overall)
No. 4 – Utica University (17-5 E8, 22-10 Overall)
No. 5 – Nazareth University (14-8 E8, 20-13 Overall)
No. 6 – Russell Sage College (12-10 E8, 16-23 Overall
No. 7 – SUNY Poly (12-10 E8, 18-15 Overall)
No. 8 – Elmira College (9-13 E8, 12-23-1 Overall)
 
2025 Empire 8 Softball Championship Schedule 
 
Tuesday, May 6 (Single Game, First Round at Higher Seed)
No. 5 Nazareth University defeated No. 8 Elmira College, 5-4 – BOX SCORE
No. 7 SUNY Poly defeated No. 6 Russell Sage College (at Cooperstown All-Star Village), 3-1 – BOX SCORE

All Double Elimination Games at Top-Seed
Thursday, May 8
Game 1 – No. 7 SUNY Poly at No. 1 St. John Fisher University – 9 a.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 2 – No. 5 Nazareth University vs. No. 2 Alfred University – 11:30 a.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 3 – No. 4 Utica University vs. No. 3 SUNY Geneseo – 2 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 4 – Loser Team from Game 1 vs. Losing Team from Game 2 (Elimination game) – 4:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS

Friday, May 9
Game 5 – Winning Team from Game 1 vs. Losing Team from Game 3 – 9 a.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 6 – Winning Team from Game 2 vs. WInning Team from Game 3 – 11:30 a.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 7 – TBA vs. TBA – 2 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 8 – TBA vs. TBA – 4:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
 
Saturday, May 10
Game 9 – TBA vs. TBA – 11 a.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS
Game 10 – TBA vs. TBA – 1:30 p.m. – VIDEO/LIVE STATS

Sunday, May 11
Game 11 – (if necessary) – TBA – VIDEO/LIVE STATS

Admission
$6.00 - Adults
$4.00 - Students and seniors with ID
Free - Children under 12

Tickets
Watch Live
Live Stats
E8 Championship Page
Softball
Mari Spitz
Softball
SB
SB

No. 1 St. John Fisher

Head Coach: Bari Mance (340-136 over 12 seasons, all at St. John Fisher)

2025 Record: 26-13 (18-4 E8)

E8 Championships: 9

Top St. John Fisher Notes

  • The Cardinals have won the Empire 8 Championship Tournament two years in a row and nine times overall. With one more title, Fisher would tie Ithaca, now in the Liberty League, for the most in conference history. 
  • The Cardinals have won five Empire 8 titles under Mance, who played for the program from 1999-2002. She spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach for Fisher before taking over the program before the 2014 season. 
  • Arguably the best one-two power combination in the Empire 8, sluggers Mari Spitz and Emily McManus enter the postseason chasing Fisher’s single-season home runs record. Both have 13 homers, tied for the second most in the league, two shy of setting the program’s single-season record. 
  • Spitz nearly hit for the home run cycle in a doubleheader sweep of Nazareth on April 23. She hit a grand slam in the first game before smacking solo and three-run homers in the second. Spitz drove in a career-high six runs in the first game and had her third multi-home run performance of the season in the second contest. 
  • The Cardinals arguably have the top two pitchers in the Empire 8 in seniors Ainsley Evanetski and Cassidy Ormond. 
  • Evanetski, who’s eighth in Division III with 163 strikeouts, sports a 12-6 record and a 2.33 earned-run average entering the postseason. The National Fastpitch Coaches Association named her the DIII Pitcher of the Week on April 14 after she struck out a career-high 18 batters in a 7-2 win against Elmira and threw a perfect game in a 4-0 win over Keuka. She struck out 14 of the 21 batters she faced in the perfect game, including the first 10 in a row.
  • Evanetski has struck out 10 or more batters in eight of her pitching appearances this season. She currently stands fourth in program history in career strikeouts (448). 
  • Ormond, the 2024 E8 Pitcher of the Year, has Fisher’s best pitching record (12-4) entering the postseason. She has a 3.54 ERA.
  • The Cardinals have a league-leading 10 shutouts this season.

No. 2 Alfred 

Head Coach: Luke Wesneski (240-137-2 over 10 seasons, all at Alfred)

2025 Record: 28-9 (18-4 E8)

E8 Championships: 3

Alfred Notes

  • Alfred has won three E8 championships, the second most by an active conference team. 
  • Jessica Remm is enjoying a tremendous season, batting .483 with a 1.434 OPS, 15 doubles, eight homers and 55 RBI. Delaney Prather is batting .437, while Abigail Gatza is hitting .435 with a 1.135 OPS, seven homers and 37 RBI and Molly Whitmyer is batting .431, has a 1.214 OPS, eight homers and 46 RBI. Samantha Vidal leads the league with 39 stolen bases in 41 attempts.
  • Pitcher Kendall Steward has struck out 122 batters, the fourth most in the E8 entering the tournament. She has a conference-best 19 pitching wins. 
  • Alfred has the highest team batting average in the E8 (.373). 

No. 3 Geneseo

Head Coach: David Sylvester (313-166-1 over 13 seasons, all at Geneseo)

2025 Record: 28-10 (17-5 E8)

E8 Championships: None (first year in E8)

Geneseo Notes

  • This tournament marks Geneseo’s first as an E8 member. The Knights won five SUNYAC Championships, including three straight from 2021-23. 
  • The Knights rank second in the E8 in team batting average (.369) and lead the conference in hits (372). 
  • Molly Griffin has the second-highest individual batting average (.523) and on-base percentage (.547). She has 47 hits, including 12 doubles and 28 RBI. Kaitlyn Schmitz is hitting .410 with 27 RBI and has also added nine wins on the mound, while Ray Schumaker leads Geneseo with five homers and 32 RBI. 

No. 4 Utica

Head Coach: Rinae Olsen (103-69 over six seasons, three at Utica and three at Skidmore)

2025 Record: 22-10 (17-5 E8)

E8 Championships: 0

Utica Notes

  • The Pioneers were swept 2-0 by the Cardinals in the E8 Championship series last spring. 
  • Rachel Little has struck out just one time all season in 28 games. 
  • Abigail Sacks leads the Pioneers with 36 RBI.
  • Brooke Beleza is hitting a team-best .468 with 51 hits and 35 runs scored. 

No. 5 Nazareth

Head Coach: Margaret Yerdon-Grange (371-249 over 16 seasons, two at Nazareth and 14 at Rochester)

2025 Record: 22-13 (15-8 E8)

E8 Championships: 0

Nazareth Notes

  • Kaijah Alexander leads the Empire 8 and ranks third in the country in batting average (.537). 
  • Alexander’s 16 home runs are the fourth-most in the country and tied for the most by an Empire 8 player in a single season. 
  • Nazareth has won a program single-season record 21 games entering the six-team portion of the E8 Tournament. The Golden Flyers beat Elmira 5-4 in the first round on Tuesday morning. 
  • The Golden Flyers lead the E8 with 47 home runs.

No. 7 SUNY Poly

Head Coach: Juleah Wanner (123-140 over 10 seasons, nine at Poly and one at Morrisville)

2025 Record: 19-15 (12-10 E8)

E8 Championships: 0

SUNY Poly Notes

  • SUNY Poly has the lowest team ERA (2.81) in the Empire 8. 
  • SUNY Poly has shut out nine of its opponents this season, the second most in the E8 behind Fisher’s 10. Trinity Critelli has five shutouts, while Annabella Mondello has four. 
  • Critelli has 154 strikeouts, the third most in the E8. 

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