In the ever-changing world of Division I athletics, respect is hard to come by. The Binghamton University baseball team will look to demand that respect from the conference this weekend as it takes on the University of Maine in a four-game showdown.
Although the Bearcats are the defending America East champions, Maine (17-14, 2-1 AE) was the preseason pick by the conference’s coaches to win the conference title this year. BU (10-15, 2-1 AE) was picked third in that poll.
‘I think we all looked at the preseason pick and maybe for a moment raised an eyebrow and wanted to know a little bit why we weren’t getting the respect we felt we deserved, but that’s OK,’ Bearcats head coach Tim Sinicki said. ‘Preseason picks are just that, they really don’t mean anything, to tell you the truth.’
The Black Bears are coming off a 2-1 weekend against the University at Albany. They won the final two games by over five runs each, but dropped the first game of the series 11-10. After one weekend of conference play, Maine leads the conference in batting average, runs scored and strikeouts by its pitchers. The team also likes to run, going 8-for-8 in stolen base attempts in three games.
The offense is led by sophomore Taylor Lewis, an outfielder who has hit .417 with 35 RBI and nine triples ‘ all conference highs ‘ in 31 games this year. The three-time conference Player of the Week made headlines by hitting for the cycle in Game 2 of the Albany series. On the pitching end, Maine has the top three strikeout pitchers in the conference, two of whom are freshmen.
But the Bearcats have much to brag about themselves. Junior left-hander James Giulietti has a league-best 2.38 ERA and has been an ace for the BU staff, while sophomore Mike Augliera is coming off his best start of the year. Junior Corey Taylor is tied for the conference lead with seven home runs and is second in the conference with 32 RBI. So while Maine may be the favorites, Sinicki feels his team should still carry a certain swagger.
‘[Maine is] very solid all the way around, and there’s a reason they were picked first to win the conference. But ‘ we’ve asked our guys to remember that the road to the America East goes through us ‘ We ask our guys to carry themselves like the champions they are, and it is our title until someone can come in and dethrone us.’
Momentum is also on BU’s side. After taking two of three from Stony Brook, the Bearcats took on Siena on Tuesday. Seven Binghamton pitchers combined to throw a shutout while the defense turned a school-record six double plays, and BU took the game 11-0. Taylor went 3-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of stolen bases, while freshman Mike Thompson was 2-for-5 with the first home run of his career.
With the win, the Bearcats have scored 23 runs in their last two games, after scoring a total of five runs in the first two games of the Stony Brook series. While it may appear to many that the offense was coming out of a slump, Sinicki said much of the reason lies with the opponent.
‘Stony Brook has two of the top guys in the league. In a lot of instances you have to give credit to pitchers sometimes and not wonder why your offense is struggling ‘ We saw great pitching on Saturday and then we took advantage of guys that weren’t quite as good over the course of Sunday and [Wednesday].’
Binghamton is scheduled to host Maine for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. Play is set to begin at noon on both Saturday and Sunday.