Championship Preview: Softball hosts Empire 8 Championships - St. John Fisher University Athletics (2024)

Softball | 5/8/2024 1:20:00 PM

PITTSFORD, N.Y. – After finishing the season undefeated in conference play, the St. John Fisher University softball team hosts the Empire 8 Softball Championship this week, with a spot in the NCAA Division III Softball Championship tournament on the line.

Here's what you need to know:

About The Regular Season
The Cardinals went 30-4 in the regular season this season, including a perfect 14-0 mark in conference play. Starting the season with a 7-1 spring trip to Arizona, the Cardinals have been clicking all year, losing consecutive games only once and ending the campaign with 20 straight wins.

Tourney Format
The Empire 8 Softball Championship consists of five teams, but Russell Sage and Keuka played a four-seed vs. five-seed to get the number down to four, with Sage triumphing in their game Tuesday, 5-0 to join Fisher, Alfred, and Utica in the final four.

The tournament now takes a double-elimination format: teams will play each other until all but one team has two losses, with the last team standing the winner. Games are scheduled from Thursday through Saturday, with Fisher's first contest coming Thursday at 4 p.m. against Russell Sage.

Championship History
The Cardinals have won eight Empire 8 titles in their history, including last season's championship, when Fisher beat Russell Sage in the finals.

Know Your Foes
No. 2 seed Alfred enters the tournament 26-12 overall and 14-2 in conference play, their only conference losses coming against the Cardinals. Alfred is led offensively by Abigail Gatza, who is third in the conference in batting average (.453), fourth in OPS (1.198), and fifth in both slugging (.698) and on-base percentage (.500). In the circle, Megan Bennett leads the E8 in wins (18) and strikeouts (136), and is third in the conference in ERA (1.86) and opposing batting average (.237).

No. 3 seed Utica is 20-13 this season, including a 8-6 mark in Empire 8 play. They played Fisher tough in the final games of the regular season, nearly pulling off a win in game one of a doubleheader until junior Mari Spitz hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh of a 2-1 Cardinals' victory. The Pioneers are powered at the plate by Jennifer Rodriguez, who leads the conference in batting average (.505), and is second in slugging (.774), on-base-percentage (.535) and OPS (1.309). In the circle, Jordyn Conte has a 2.64 ERA (fourth-best in the conference) and did well in last Saturday's game against Fisher, holding the Cardinals scoreless through six innings before the last-inning comeback.
No. 4 seed Russell Sage enters 13-22 overall with a 6-8 record in conference play. The Gators are an active team on the basepaths, with the conference's second (Madalyn Ring with 22) and tied-for-third (Annalise Taylor with 15) best base-stealers. In the circle, they're led by Leah Madore, the conference leader in strikeouts with 146.

Super(Mc)Manus
Freshman Emily McManus is in just her first year of collegiate softball, but is already one of the best hitters in the conference. She leads the Empire 8 in slugging (.832), OPS (1.349), and home runs (10), and is near the top of the leaderboard in nearly every other offensive category as well. Her 10 round-trippers this season so far put her in a tie for sixth-most in a single season for a Cardinal.

Twin Aces
Juniors Ainsley Evanetski and Cassidy Ormond aren't literally twins (although Ainsley's twin sister, Cassidy Evanetski, is a fixture of the Cardinals' starting lineup), but they've been an inseparable part of Fisher's success this season. A combined 28-4 on the season, Ormond and Evanetski finished the regular season first and second in both ERA (1.22 and 1.54, respectively) and opposing batting average (.185 and .186, respectively). The two are also second and third in wins (Ormond with 15, Evanetski with 13), and third and fourth in strikeouts (Evanetski with 110, Ormond with 101). Both have flirted with no-hitters this season, and Ormond has accomplished the feat twice: a perfect game against RIT and a "traditional" no-hitter against Houghton.

What Comes Next
A conference title or an at-large berth would mean a trip to the NCAA tournament, which begins next week.

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