Pitching was the story this weekend, as the Binghamton University baseball team took three out of four games from Lehigh University.
The Bearcats (6-7) have now won five of their last six games, rebounding from a poor performance against the University of New Mexico earlier this month. BU’s starters showed more promise this weekend, as a freshman and a sophomore each earned their first win of the year. The team’s relievers only had to pitch one inning total in the first three games.
Meanwhile, the Mountain Hawks (4-18-1) have lost 14 of 16, though their sole win of the weekend snapped a 12-game drought. According to Binghamton University head coach Tim
Sinicki, their poor record hides a quality ballclub.
“I know they’ve played some decent teams on their opening weekend and their spring break,” Sinicki said. “They had about double the amount of games under their belt that we had coming into the series, so it made me very happy performing the way that we did.”
In Saturday’s opener a win seemed to be in the Bearcats’ hands as they trotted out senior Jeff Dennis (1-2) against a struggling team and opened up a 2-0 lead in the second inning on three singles. However, the Mountain Hawks bounced right back, responding with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. Dennis allowed a lead-off triple to sophomore first baseman Kevin Mihalik, followed promptly by a home run from junior catcher Billy Swenson.
The Bearcats offense was kept in check for the rest of the game, while Lehigh tacked on another run in the fifth inning and four more in the sixth to win 7-2. Dennis took the loss, but pitched a complete game, striking out four players and giving up four earned runs in six innings.
The night game would prove to be a turning point of sorts for BU. Junior Murphy Smith started the affair for Binghamton. Smith was coming off of his second America East Pitcher of the Week honor of the young season, having shut down the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore last week. Against the Mountain Hawks, he made a strong case to win the award a third time. Smith pitched the full nine innings, giving up just two runs and striking out six. Despite the strong performance from their pitching, the Bearcats entered the eighth inning down 2-0.
After a lead-off single from shortstop Jeff Abrams, Binghamton recorded two straight outs. That’s when the Bearcats rallied back in spectacular fashion. The next three hitters hit back-to-back-to-back home runs, giving BU a 4-2 lead. Second baseman Jim Calderone started the power display, followed by third baseman Kyle Klee and center fielder Corey Taylor. The team would add another run in the ninth, winning 5-2. Sinicki said he fully appreciated the importance of the home runs.
“We faced a pretty good pitcher in Saturday’s first game, and he kind of shut us down. The kid in the second game was kind of cruising along, and then to get that type of production out of our 2-3-4 guys at that particular point where we really needed a lift …. Not just the guys playing, but the bench was excited, the coaching staff was pretty excited. That obviously, I think, was the key to the whole turnaround for the weekend.”
Smith is now 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA, recording 13 strikeouts against just three walks. Sinicki says his stellar play is no surprise, given his development over the last few years, and calls him one of the anchors to his staff. Smith was 6-3 with a 4.09 ERA in his sophomore season.
On Sunday the Bearcats carried over their momentum from the previous night’s win. However, this time it would be fueled by two underclassmen pitchers. Sophomore James Giulietti pitched in the first game, giving up two runs — just one earned — to go with five strikeouts in five innings. Calderone paced the offense, going 3-for-4 with a triple while stealing two bases and scoring a run. Kyle Klee knocked in two runs. With all that offense, BU entered the bottom of the ninth inning up 5-1, leaving Giulietti in to finish off the game.
However, he immediately surrendered a pair of singles and was replaced by senior closer Greg Lane. Lane was able to induce a double play from the next batter, putting a runner on third with two outs. The Mountain Hawks did not quit, though, and hit back-to-back doubles to put the game at 5-3 and bring the tying run to the plate. The veteran closer won the battle, getting freshman pinch hitter Joe Conaway to ground out back to the pitcher to end the game. It was Lane’s second save of the year and Giulietti’s first win.
Lane’s work for the weekend was not over quite yet, though, as he would prove to be significant in the nightcap as well. BU sent out freshman Mike Augliera, who had given up six runs in each of his previous two games. The right-hander would prove to be much better on this night, giving up one run on four hits over five innings. The Bearcats gave him run support, scoring two in the opening frame with senior Ken Jacobi’s RBI triple. Jacobi was 3-for-4 in the game. The team added two more in the third, as Calderone and Klee each reached base, stole second and eventually scored. Lehigh scored a run in the bottom of the inning, but Augliera worked out of a bases-loaded jam to avoid further damage.
Going into the bottom of the ninth, Binghamton was up 6-3. Lane was called in again, and struggled at first. He surrendered a walk and a single to the first two batters. After getting a fielder’s choice for the first out, Lane hit the next batter to load the bases, bringing the winning run to the plate. Sophomore Brendan Pifer popped out to shortstop, leaving the game up to freshman Ryan Gajdos. Fortunately for the Bearcats, their closer came through once again, striking out Gajdos, looking to end the game and earn the save. Augliera (1-2) received the first win of his career at Binghamton University.
“That’s what happens with closers; sometimes they come in and make it look easy, and sometimes they’ve got to come in and create a little excitement,” said Sinicki, laughing. “To Greg’s credit he ultimately got the job done and was able to secure us two wins on Sunday.”
Despite the wins, coach Sinicki says that the team is “by no means where we need to be to repeat as conference champions.” He went on to say that the team would have to make serious improvements in all facets of the game. However, looking just at this weekend and a rotation utilizing multiple underclassmen, the Bearcats must be happy with the solid performances from Giulietti and Augliera.
“Both guys threw extremely well,” Sinicki said. “We know that we’re going to need contributions from our young guys. That was a key to the season as we headed into it, knowing that we had a lot of young arms on our staff, and their development and their ability to contribute right away was going to be important to our success.”
Kyle Klee and Corey Taylor have been BU’s offensive leaders this season, starting all 13 games while hitting .319 (Taylor) and .314 (Klee) to go with four home runs and 14 RBIs between them. Jim Calderone leads the team with four stolen bases in the year.
Binghamton will be playing in the America East/Northeast Conference challenge this weekend, a tournament that pits three America East teams against three teams from the Northeast Conference. BU will visit Quinnipiac University (4-13) at 3 p.m. on Friday, Central Connecticut State (6-3) at noon on Saturday and Sacred Heart University (7-9) at noon on Sunday.