The Binghamton University baseball team used a late Game 4 rally to earn a split in a four-game series against the Maine Black Bears this weekend.
Binghamton (12-17, 4-3 America East Conference) split both doubleheaders against Maine (19-16, 4-3 AE) at Varsity Field. The Bearcats came to play early, taking the first game Saturday afternoon 3-1 before dropping the next two games, 7-5 and 3-1. The offense ignited in Game 4, though, and the Bearcats won, 13-11.
Pitching to Win
On the mound in Game 1 was junior lefty ace James Giulietti, who delivered another strong performance. He pitched 7 innings, giving up six hits, one earned run and no walks. He recorded six strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 2.22, the lowest in the America East.
Junior center fielder Henry Dunn broke the 1-1 tie with a triple in the sixth, bringing home senior second baseman Jim Calderone, who started the inning with a walk. Sophomore first baseman Dave Ciocchi extended the lead to three with a sacrifice fly.
Giulietti struck out two in the seventh inning, earning his second conference win and his fourth overall.
Quiet Offense
In Game 2 of the doubleheader, Binghamton sent out freshman righty Jay Lynch. Lynch pitched 6.2 innings, allowing five hits, two earned runs and one walk.
Maine’s bats came out early with two runs in the first inning. The Bearcats responded with a run by freshman designated hitter Mike Thompson in the first inning. Dunn and junior right fielder Peter Bregartner added two more runs in the fifth inning before the Black Bears tied the game, 3-3. Dunn posted an RBI double and Bregartner hit an RBI single after junior left fielder Corey Taylor was intentionally walked.
The Bearcats were unable to break the tie, leaving two runners stranded in the sixth. The Black Bears wasted no time and scored three runs in the seventh and one run in the eighth.
Binghamton’s only response was two runs in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to catch up to Maine, who took the game 7-5.
“Offensively we have to execute and we’ve got to try to be very productive when we have runners on base,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “I thought we did that at times this weekend, but I think we are capable of trying to do a better job.”
The only offense in Game 1 of Sunday’s doubleheader came from freshman catcher Mike Danaher in the fourth inning. Danaher singled to right field, bringing home Bregartner.
Sophomore righty Mike Augliera scattered eight hits through a span of 7.0 innings and gave up three runs in the 3-1 loss.
Rallying to Win
In the final game of the series, the Bearcats’ offense outmatched that of the Black Bears to earn the win.
Binghamton’s offense sparked quickly, posting seven runs on eight hits in the first inning. Maine’s starter Matt Jebb faced Binghamton’s entire lineup, giving up eight singles.
Calderone’s single to left field started off the inning. Taylor scored the first two runs with a single through to left field, driving home Calderone and Dunn. Both senior designated hitter Joe Charron and Bregartner singled in an RBI apiece. With a sac fly RBI by freshman third baseman Joel Stubbs and singles by junior catcher C.J Lukaszewski, Calderone and Dunn, Binghamton’s bats were hot.
Freshman righty Joe Swindells lasted just 2.1 innings after giving up two runs per inning, closing Binghamton’s lead to just one. Ciocchi and Taylor’s RBI singles added two insurance runs in the fourth inning, extending Binghamton’s lead to 9-6.
Freshman righty Robert Rogers was unable to keep the three-run lead. He pitched 3.1 innings before giving up three runs in the sixth. Sophomore righty Walker McKinven came in the seventh and was taken out after 1.1 innings after giving up two runs on three hits to give Maine the lead.
The Bearcats responded with a bang in the eighth inning. Ciocchi singled up the middle, scoring Lukaszewski and tying the game at 11-11. Bregartner then drove in two RBI with a game-winning, two-out single. The win split the series equally.
“It was real big to get the split of the series,” Sinicki said. “Maine was the preseason team that was chosen to win the conference so I think that by splitting it, it spoke to our guys about the ability to compete with them, and knowing that if we play well and can get ourselves into … [the] tournament with them, we will have a really good chance to have an opportunity to knock them off.”
Sophomore righty Alex Adami closed the game and recorded the win after pitching two innings.
Next up is Marist in a non-conference game at 3 p.m. Tuesday at Varsity Field.