With only nine games remaining, the Binghamton University baseball team is looking to gain momentum for the America East Championship later this month.
The team’s schedule originally included a May 4 game against Cornell University, but inclement weather led to its cancellation. This weekend BU will square off in a three-game set against University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Binghamton (17-20, 9-4 America East), who swept UMBC (7-30, 0-13 AE) earlier this season, will look to improve its conference standing after last weekend’s series loss has the team in second place. The Bearcats sit two games out of first after dropping two-of-three against Stony Brook University.
The Retrievers have yet to win a conference game, but still proved to be a challenging opponent the first time they faced off against the Bearcats in April. Each game of that series was decided by fewer than five runs, including a dramatic 5-4 Bearcat victory in the finale.
At its current pace, UMBC will finish in last place in the America East for the third consecutive season. Despite the Retrievers’ struggles, Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki insists his team isn’t overlooking them.
“Those games weren’t easy,” Sinicki said of the team’s first meeting. “It may have looked like three wins on the results, but we had to scratch and claw for those wins. I don’t think our guys are going to take UMBC lightly just because we beat them three times already this year.”
Led by senior James Giulietti and junior Mike Augliera, Binghamton’s pitching rotation has been consistent, especially during conference play. Against AE opponents, the tandem has combined to post a 4-1 record and boasts ERAs of 1.80 and 2.57, respectively.
For the Bearcats, strong outings have been especially important with the inconsistency of the team’s bullpen. Sinicki said he believes that in order for his team to have an opportunity to win, his rotation must have quality outings.
“I think for us to be successful this weekend, we’re going to need good starting pitching, which we’ve been getting for the most part here the last month or so,” he said.
But for Binghamton, solid pitching needs to be coupled with productive offense. In its last series against Stony Brook, BU combined for only eight runs in three games, a problem Sinicki contributes to a lack of clutch hitting.
“We need to get some timely hitting with guys in scoring position,” he said. “We’ve been leaving a lot of guys on base in recent weeks, and it’s not because of lack of effort. Sometimes it’s because the balls just don’t fall in or are hit right at somebody, but we’ve got to try to find a way to do a better job to get guys in to score when we have them in scoring position.”
Though the Bearcats have at times struggled to score, the team’s lineup has its fair share of bright spots. The club ranks second in the conference with a .297 batting average while junior first baseman Dave Ciocchi’s .346 mark stands as fourth-best in the America East. He is tied for the team lead in hits (46) and leads the club in home runs (4), RBI (27) and slugging percentage (.564).
In last weekend’s series against Stony Brook, Binghamton’s offense was anchored by freshman John Howell, who posted a .500 batting average to earn America East Rookie of the Week honors.
The Bearcats eagerly await a rematch with the conference’s first-place team as Stony Brook is next in line after UMBC, but Sinicki stressed what he thinks is the most important aspect of this weekend’s series.
“I think it’s less about gaining momentum and more about just trying to play good baseball,” he said. “The more good baseball you play, I think you gain confidence and then it really doesn’t matter who your opponent is. If you’re feeling good about the way you’re playing and the way things are going … I think you can pretty much take on anyone. So I don’t think it matters who you play [from] here forward, you just want to play good baseball and try to be as solid in all areas as possible.”
The three-game series is set to open with a doubleheader at noon tomorrow, with the finale scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday.
— Megan Brockett contributed to this report.