Junior outfielder Corey Taylor set a school record for career home runs during the Binghamton University baseball team’s 12-8 loss to Cornell University Wednesday afternoon, Binghamton’s final non-conference game. Taylor’s two-run blast in the first inning was the 29th home run of his career. He eclipsed Jamie Boyer’s mark of 28 home runs, which was set in 2005. Taylor leads the America East with nine home runs on the season.
Bearcats head coach Tim Sinicki believes the achievement is a result of Taylor’s commitment to improving his game.
“To me it signifies what a young man can do for himself personally through a lot of hard work,” he said. “A kid who dedicates himself to getting bigger and stronger in the weight room and working out hard in the batting cages in the offseason to develop his offensive skill.”
Following Taylor’s home run, the Bearcats led 3-0 after the first inning. The Big Red stormed back, scoring 12 unanswered runs in the next five innings. After scratching out runs in the sixth and seventh innings to cut the lead to 12-5, the Bearcats rallied in the ninth. Taylor added his third RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly that scored junior Henry Dunn. Freshmen Mike Thompson and Jordon Smucker each drove in a run to cut the lead to four. Senior second baseman Jim Calderone came up as the tying run with the bases loaded and two outs, but he popped out to end the Bearcats’ rally and the game. Despite a 0-for-5 showing, Calderone is still hitting .382, which leads the team.
The Bearcats used eight pitchers throughout the game, a strategy Sinicki likes to employ to keep all of his arms ready for long weekend series.
“The reason for it is because we have four conference games coming up this weekend and those are the games that matter the most to us right now at this point,” Sinicki explained. “So the reason we do it that way is so all eight of those pitchers can get a chance to get their work in and they have proper rest to be fresh for this weekend when we need them out of the bullpen.”
Freshman Robert Rogers and sophomore Walker McKinven each surrendered three runs in an inning of work and junior Morgan Smith allowed four runs in two innings pitched. This trio has struggled mightily throughout the season, and Sinicki is a bit worried about their performances.
“The simple answer is of course [I’m worried],” he said. “There is concern. Their numbers aren’t great on paper and they’re not throwing the baseball as well as we need them to be. There’s not much we can do about it at this point. We just have to continue to work with them, get them back on the mound and get things straightened out for the stretch run here.”
The bullpen turned it around later in the game, not allowing a run or a hit in the final three innings. Senior Matt Simone pitched a perfect ninth, striking out two. He hasn’t allowed a run in five appearances this season and Sinicki anticipates that there will be more chances for him to pitch in the coming weeks.
“I’m sure there will be,” he said. “Unless we get complete games out of our starters … but I’m sure there will be opportunities for him down the stretch.”
The Bearcats take a 16-18 record to Hartford this weekend for two doubleheaders. With an 8-14 record away from Varsity Field, it appears that Binghamton hasn’t performed too well on the road. However, they did begin the season with a long stretch of challenging road games.
“We might be under .500 on the road, but we also played about our first 22 games on the road,” Sinicki explained. “So I’m not sure there are many teams that can play those games on the road and come out above .500. I think that’s a little bit of a misleading stat.”
The Hawks are in last place in the conference, sporting a 2-8 AE record. Sinicki insists that his team’s mindset will not be altered because of Hartford’s standing.
“We’re going to prepare them just like we have for the first conference weekends we’ve had … [the] same way,” he said. “These are conference games and there are no easy games in conference, so we won’t look at it that way.”
Hartford’s pitching has been erratic for most of the season and the team’s pitchers don’t miss a lot of bats; they rank last in the conference for runs allowed and strikeouts. The Bearcats are in position to score a slew of runs this weekend with their potent offense, but Sinicki is not putting stock into the statistics; he’s certain the Hawks are going to be ready to compete.
“Those guys are going to come out and try to get our hitters out, just like I expect our pitchers to get opposing hitters out,” he said. “We’ll do what we need to do offensively; if we need to scratch out runs we will. If we can swing the bat well and put up some big numbers that’d be great, but we’re just going to try to score more runs than they do to win the game.”
The doubleheaders are scheduled to take place on Saturday and Sunday, with each one set to start at noon.