After facing one of its toughest challenges of the year, the Binghamton University baseball team is looking to build off their solid weekend when it faces the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore.
The Bearcats (1-6) picked up their first win of the year last weekend against SEC team University of Tennessee, though it was their only win of the weekend. Outside of a 19-2 defeat, every game they played had a margin of five runs or less.
BU’s offense has been as potent as promised and has scored at least five runs in all but two games. Junior outfielder Corey Taylor and sophomore first baseman Dave Ciocchi have been as good as advertised, and currently stand as the top two on the team in RBI totals. The big force in the lineup, though, has been junior Peter Bregartner. The outfielder leads the team with a .462 batting average, leads the team in home runs and is second in RBI, despite having played in just four of the team’s seven games. His 1.077 slugging percentage is nearly double the next best one on the team.
Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki says that the offense is even better than just numbers can show.
“The guys that we knew we can count on, they’re putting up numbers that we saw, but they’re also having quality at-bats along with that. They’re working pitch counts, they’re allowing other hitters to see pitches before their at-bats. Those types of things are what you expect from an experienced group of hitters.”
Things on the pitching front have been more erratic for BU. Junior James Giulietti appears to be thriving in the role of No. 1 pitcher for the team, posting a 1.74 ERA in two games while limiting hitters to a .237 average. Sophomore Mike Augliera, who the Bearcats were hoping would develop into the team’s No. 2, has been up-and-down. He has a 7.27 ERA, but has also recorded six strikeouts in just 8.2 innings.
While those two will look to build off their performances by starting the first two games this weekend, the third game will be started by Jay Lynch. The freshman started out the year with a solid four-inning, two-run performance. Last week, though, he struggled when asked to take on the Tennessee Volunteers, surrendering 11 runs in 2.1 innings in the Bearcats’ 19-2 loss. Sinicki knows, though, that giving Lynch another start this weekend is key to his development.
“We need to let him know that we continue to have confidence in him and his abilities,” he said. “Actions do speak louder than words … We feel like running him out there on Sunday could do a lot for his confidence and let him know that we really still believe in him as a kid who’s going to be a big part of our program.”
While Sinicki expected the pitching to take time to develop, he has been disappointed with his team’s defense, specifically citing the left side of the infield. A Gold Glove third baseman in high school, freshman Joel Stubbs has committed three errors in six games, while senior shortstop Jeff Abrams has three in just five games. Every Bearcat who has had at least one start at shortstop or third base this year has committed at least one error. Sinicki said that improvement there would be “critical … to our success down the road.”
The Bearcats will face Maryland Eastern Shore this weekend. The Hawks are 0-12 on the year, including a 24-0 defeat at the hands of William & Mary. Last year the Bearcats and Hawks played a two-game set, with BU taking both matches. According to Sinicki, though, the Bearcats are only concerned about themselves, not their opponents.
“Early on the way we look at it is, we’re trying to take care of things internally with our guys,” he said. “We don’t worry too much about who we’re playing, whether it’s Tennessee or Maryland Eastern Shore … We told our guys yesterday during practice that we just need to try to get better in all areas. We know it’s a slow process sometimes and it’s not going to happen overnight, but we want to see some improvement as we head to the weekend.”
Binghamton and Maryland Eastern Shore are scheduled for a doubleheader on Saturday, with first pitch of Game 1 scheduled for noon. The teams will then play again on Sunday, with first pitch also scheduled for noon.