Binghamton baseball opened its season this weekend with a road trip against Dallas Baptist, dropping all three games to the Patriots. DBU remained in control for the majority of the series, outscoring the Bearcats 33-6 on the weekend.

“Friday night, we didn’t play particularly well,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “It’s not an excuse — we were a little surprised by the doubleheader on Friday. We were supposed to play a single game every day, but weather moved in and they wanted to make sure we got all of our games in, so we played. I think it’s a lot to ask guys, first time out is to play a doubleheader on that first day.”

Binghamton’s (0-3) first game on Friday saw them quickly go down 2-0 in the first inning, but a pair of sacrifice hits from senior infielder Zack Kent and sophomore first baseman/pitcher Steven Kraus in the third drove in two runs for the Bearcats to make it a 2-2 game.

Things quickly spiraled out of control for Binghamton, however, as the team gave up an additional four runs in the bottom of the third, going down 6-2 and forcing a pitching change. The change did little to slow the bleeding, however, as the Patriots (3-0) drove in seven more runs over the next three innings, ultimately forcing a 13-2 mercy rule after seven innings.

“We gave up way too many free base runners,” Sinicki said. “We walked way too many guys and the strike zone was a little tight. But we’ve got to do a better job making adjustments. And so, too many free base runners, that was number one, and number two, just our offense really wasn’t where it’s gonna need to be for us to be a good ball club.”

The second game of Binghamton’s doubleheader on Friday was more of the same, with DBU setting the tone once again with a three-run homer in the bottom of the second. A nightmare fourth inning for the Bearcats saw their opponents tack on another nine runs and an additional two in the fifth made it a 14-0 ballgame.

Binghamton’s lone run of the game came in the seventh inning, when freshman outfielder/first baseman Jeremy Ramos was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, avoiding a shutout. Binghamton was once again mercy ruled after the seventh, leaving a final score of 14-1.

“I feel like you need to play good teams right out of the very beginning,” Sinicki said. “I think it gives you an opportunity to see where you are as a team. I don’t want to fool ourselves by playing teams that we think we can just go in and beat. These are challenging games. This is how we learn about who we are.”

Looking to avoid the sweep, the Bearcats came out hot in their third game on Sunday, taking their first lead of the series thanks to RBIs from Kraus and sophomore catchers Andrew Heppner and Tommy Popoff. The Patriots answered with two runs in the second and a two-run homer in the third put them up 4-3.

Both teams were held scoreless through the next three innings until DBU put up two more runs in the seventh, both of which were unearned. The Bearcats were unable to put any more runs on the board as DBU closed out the game 6-3.

“Guys go to class tomorrow and have an off day, then it’s back to business on Tuesday and Wednesday,” Sinicki said. “Continue to get our defensive work in, get our guys on the mound, bullpen sessions on the mound and then continue to swing the bat. Baseball is a game of repetition and you can’t go and reinvent the wheel. You’re just going to work on the things that we saw that we were exposed on this weekend and try to improve on them before we hit the road again.”

Binghamton baseball will look to bounce back next weekend as they continue its road trip against William & Mary. First pitch is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, Virginia.