After opening the season going 3-9 in nonconference play, the Binghamton baseball team played its first America East (AE) Conference series last weekend against Stony Brook. The Bearcats (4-11, 1-2 AE) dropped two of three games against the Seawolves (9-8, 2-1 AE), continuing a start to the season that has failed to live up to the team’s expectations. Once BU dropped its first matchup of a Saturday doubleheader, the nightcap was suspended after eight innings and resumed on Sunday afternoon. Binghamton won the series’ second game, then dropped its third and final meeting with SBU shortly after.
The Bearcats and Seawolves opened the series with a high-scoring duel featuring three significant lead changes. Binghamton jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the first inning thanks to sacrificing hits from seniors shortstop Paul Rufo and catcher Jason Agresti. Rufo hit his first home run of the season in the top of the third inning, extending BU’s lead to three.
Stony Brook took its first lead of the game and built on it, totaling nine runs in the third and fourth innings. The Seawolves’ run forced Binghamton redshirt senior pitcher Jacob Wloczewski to exit the game after pitching 3 1/3 innings. Wloczewski started the game and surrendered six earned runs.
Trailing 9-4, the Bearcats scored six unanswered runs to take a 10-9 lead in the top of the seventh inning. After Stony Brook tied the game at 10 in the bottom of the seventh, RBIs from freshman outfielder Shane Marshall and junior outfielder Sean Trenholm gave the Bearcats a 12-10 advantage heading into the home half of the eighth inning.
The Seawolves responded with one final scoring run, totaling five runs in the frame and holding on for a dramatic 15-12 victory. Senior pitcher Joe Orlando was charged with the loss for Binghamton. Orlando gave up each of SBU’s final five runs, three of which were earned.
Saturday’s seven-inning nightcap featured another evenly matched contest. The Seawolves scored the game’s first four runs, but Binghamton answered by scoring six unanswered runs to take a 6-4 lead into the seventh inning. Looking to close out its second consecutive game, BU again gave up critical runs in the match’s late innings. Stony Brook tied the game at six to force extra innings. After the eighth inning, the contest was suspended due to darkness and cold weather.
Resuming Sunday afternoon, the Bearcats closed out the game swiftly, posting two runs in the top of the tenth inning and holding SBU scoreless in Sunday’s two frames to secure its first conference win of the season, 8-6. Junior outfielder Anthony Meduri led the Bearcats’ offensive attack, recording four hits and three RBIs in the win. Junior pitcher Robert Brown was credited with the victory after logging two shutout innings on Sunday.
In the series’ final matchup, BU’s pitching performance improved, but its offense could not muster enough run support to win the series’ rubber match. Junior pitcher Nick Gallagher started the game for Binghamton, allowing three runs while recording seven strikeouts in five innings pitched. The Bearcats again held a lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning, up 5-3 in the series finale. An error by Rufo and three-run home run by Stony Brook sophomore outfielder Michael Wilson powered the Seawolves to a 7-5 edge, which it did not relinquish.
Binghamton is set to return to nonconference action this weekend when it travels to Queens, New York to take on St. John’s. The three-game series is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, March 23 at Jack Kaiser Stadium.