Spring is officially under way in Binghamton. The grass has made an appearance, the temperature has crept above freezing and the northern region has finally readied itself for baseball again.
After months of indoor practices, seven challenging weeks of traveling south to compete against high-caliber ball teams and 25 consecutive games on the road to open the season, the Binghamton University baseball team returned home April 12, kicking off its home schedule with a 5-2 non-conference victory over Niagara University. The Bearcats split a four-game America East series with University at Albany the following weekend before dropping another non-conference contest to Marist College, both on the road. The Bearcats returned to Binghamton over the weekend, sweeping a three-game set from University of Hartford. Yesterday’s scheduled Game 4 was cancelled due to weather conditions.
Sophomore righty Joe Swindells took the mound in the Bearcats’ (16-18, 8-2 America East) home-opener against Niagara (6-30, 3-12 MAAC), throwing four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit.
Senior catcher C.J. Lukaszewski put Binghamton on the board in the first inning with a solo shot to left field, and BU never looked back. The squad tacked on two in the fifth with RBI from freshman left fielder Shaun McGraw and senior right fielder Peter Bregartner, and eventually took the game 5-2.
Binghamton hit the road the following weekend to resume conference play against Albany (13-18, 5-2 AE). The Bearcats squandered leads in both games of the opening doubleheader to pick up their first two conferences losses of the season.
In Game 1, the Bearcats took a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth when the Great Danes tagged BU pitching for two runs in the bottom of the inning. Both runs were attributed to senior starter James Giulietti. Albany scored two more runs in the seventh and final inning to walk off with the victory, 4-3.
In the nightcap, a two-run triple from junior first baseman Dave Ciocchi preceded an RBI groundout by senior outfielder Corey Taylor to put the Bearcats ahead 3-2 in the seventh. The Great Danes answered with a game-tying run in the bottom of the inning, and tacked on two more in the next for the 5-3 victory.
Junior starter Mike Augliera was left with the no-decision after giving up three runs, just one earned, over seven innings.
On Sunday, the Bearcats managed to earn the spilt in the series after back-to-back wins.
In Game 1, sophomore starter Jay Lynch went seven strong innings, allowing just two runs on six hits while striking out seven.
Trailing by one, the Great Danes tagged Lynch for a run in the bottom of the seventh to push the game into extra innings. But the Bearcat offense exploded in the top of the eighth, compiling seven runs to take a 9-2 lead. Ciocchi, who finished the series with eight hits, six runs and four RBIs, doubled to lead off the inning and ignite the rally. The Bearcats went on to win it 9-5.
In Game 2, the Binghamton offense continued to impress. Taylor was perfect on the day, going 4-for-4 and coming around to score three times.
BU rallied late once again, finding itself down by three in the bottom of the seventh. Following an RBI double from Bregartner, Jeff Skelhorne-Gross stroked a single down the right field line to score two. Freshman shortstop John Howell singled in the go-ahead run to follow, and BU took the game 13-11.
On April 20, the Bearcats took to the road again to face off against Marist (23-12, 4-8 MAAC) in a non-conference contest. After letting a late lead slip away in the eighth, the Bearcats had a final opportunity in the top of the ninth when the hottest hitter in the America East stepped to the plate for the Bearcats in Ciocchi, whose .369 batting average and four home runs lead the league. With the tying run 90-feet away, however, Ciocchi fouled out to end the game, making the runner the 10th stranded by the Bearcats that day.
The Bearcats returned to Binghamton to resume conference play on Saturday in a three-game series against Hartford (3-28-1, 1-8 AE). The team took both games of the opening doubleheader in extra-inning, walk-off fashion.
Giulietti impressed in the opener, throwing a complete game in which he allowed just two runs.
The game remained locked at two through the bottom of the ninth. With two outs, Lukaszewski doubled to right, and Ciocchi found himself up at the plate with the game on the line once again. With the count full, this time Ciocchi connected, roping a double off the right field wall to win the game, 3-2.
Pitching dominated in the nightcap, as both teams were held scoreless into extra innings. Augliera tossed a complete game shutout for BU in which he gave up just three hits.
With the game locked at zero, Bregartner doubled in the bottom of the ninth, collecting his third hit of the day. Skelhorne-Gross cracked a 3-2 pitch into shallow right to follow, and Bregartner beat the throw to the plate to snap the tie and sweep the Hawks.
Bregartner went 6-for-8 on the day with three runs scored.
The following day, Binghamton once again found itself in an early hole and entered the bottom of the sixth down 3-1. With two outs, freshman center fielder Bill Bereszniewicz, who finished the game 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, hit a two-run double to left field to tie the game. Ciocchi followed a few batters later with a double of his own to drive in two-runs and give the Bearcats the lead. They would take it, 5-3.
The Bearcats are set to host Cornell University at 4 p.m. today at the West Gym Field.