After sweeping NJIT on the road last weekend, Binghamton baseball returned home on Wednesday to play a one-off game against Siena University, coming away with an 11-1 mercy rule after seven innings. The Bearcats stacked up five runs in the second and the fourth innings to propel them to the dominant victory.

“Wins and losses, of course they’re important, that’s how we’re judged and that will define the success of our season, but I don’t get caught up in them too much with the early-on stuff,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “We’re playing teams that are typically in bigger conferences, have been outside, so no matter what our record is after the first 12 games or so we don’t get discouraged. We just hope that we’re preparing ourselves for league play and the rest of our schedule.”

Following a quick 1-2-3 top of the first, a single from senior second baseman Zack Kent and back-to-back walks quickly loaded the bases for sophomore catcher Tommy Popoff, who drove in the first run of the game thanks to an error by the Saints (9-18, 5-10 MAA) Although the bases remained loaded, Binghamton (14-13, 6-3 AE) was unable to tack on any more runs in the first.

A double play from the Bearcats quickly ended the top of the second, and three straight walks once again loaded the bases for the Bearcats. Binghamton managed to tack on five more runs on a single hit to quickly go up 6-0. Another double play ended the third for the Saints, but three quick Binghamton outs ended the bottom of the inning shortly after.

“Anytime you use five guys in one game, you’re taking a chance, because all five guys need to be on,” Sinicki said. “So I was really happy and very proud of the way those guys performed on [Wednesday], to come in and have their good stuff and be able to shut them down and give the offense a chance to put some runs on the board.”

Siena finally got a score on the board with a solo home run in the top of the fourth, making it a 6-1 ballgame. The Bearcats responded with another breakout inning, scoring five more runs in the fourth, thanks in part to a three-run homer from sophomore catcher Andrew Heppner to make it an 11-1 game.

Neither team scored in the fifth, as the Bearcats once again held Siena to a 1-2-3 inning, and the sixth saw more of the same, with the only Bearcat baserunner coming as a result of a hit-by-pitch. In the top of the seventh, the Saints had one last chance to avoid a mercy rule, but they were unable to find another score, stranding two runners on base as they fell.

“I would have liked to have played a little bit longer because we had a couple more guys I wanted to pitch,” Sinicki said. “But for the sake of the game and the sake of people’s health, I think [the mercy rule’s] actually a good rule, and I think it’s becoming widely accepted throughout college baseball.”

Binghamton baseball continues its home stand against UMBC this weekend as it resumes conference play. First pitch is scheduled for Friday, April 10, at 2 p.m. at the Bearcats Baseball Complex in Vestal, New York.