In the middle of a four game losing streak, the Binghamton baseball team got back in the win column with an 11-10 walk-off win over Canisius at home. The Bearcats battled back from an early 10-1 deficit, with senior designated hitter Christian Perez delivering with a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning to complete the comeback.

“We love to win,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “Any type of win is good and healthy for the team, especially when you rally like we did and you walk somebody off.”

After a scoreless first frame, Canisius (6-13) pulled ahead, putting up a six spot in the top of the second inning. A walk, followed by a wild pitch put senior first baseman Andrew Tan on second with two outs in the bottom of the frame, but the Bearcats [8-13, 2-4 America East (AE)] were unable to capitalize. After the Golden Griffins added an insurance run to open the fourth inning, Binghamton got on the board — courtesy of senior outfielder Mike Gunning mashing a home run to make it a 7-1 game.

“[Gunning] has the ability to knock the ball apart really, any time,” Sinicki said. “He just has to continue to try to get pitches that he can drive forward.”

A balk in the top of the fifth inning that advanced the runner to third, followed by a two-run Canisius single, allowed the Golden Griffins to cement their lead at 10-1. After the Bearcats brought in freshman pitcher Trey Sajeski, a walk and fielder’s choice ended the frame.

“Everyone’s gonna have a bad outing,” Sinicki said, “After a clean first inning, unfortunately, [graduate student pitcher Spencer Howell] just had one of those second innings. I thought that the guys who came in after him did a good job.”

In the bottom half of the fifth inning, the Bearcats began to mount a comeback when Perez singled to left field, plating senior outfielder Tommy Reifler and making it a 10-2 ball game. A single up the middle by junior outfielder Logan Haskell advanced Perez to second. Both runners then advanced a base to second and third, respectively, with two outs on a balk by the Canisius pitcher. It came down to senior catcher Kevin Reilly, with men on second and third, who barreled a three-run home run dead center to shorten the Canisius lead to 10-5 at the end of five frames.

“I just decided after the fourth inning [to put Reilly in for junior catcher Evin Sullivan],” Sinicki said, “It was time to get [Reilly] in there and get him some experience, handling some different arms behind the plate, and then give him an opportunity to have a couple of bats as well, and that really paid off.”

After the next two innings saw no additional runs added by either side, in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Bearcats’ offense began to heat up, putting up a five spot to tie the game at 10. This started with a wild pitch advancing both sophomore infielder Mike Stellrecht and senior shortstop Isaiah Corry to second and third. Following the opposing pitcher walking freshman infielder Todd Abraham to load the bases, a wild pitch opened the floodgates and kickstarted a sequence of five Bearcat runs on four walks to tie the game 10-10.

“[With] as many at-bats as we had in front of us, we thought just chip away little by little, and we were fortunate to get a couple of big innings as well,” Sinicki said.

After Canisius failed to score in the top of the ninth inning, Binghamton entered the bottom of the frame with a chance to walk it off. After Corry was hit by a pitch, Reifler reached on a fielder’s choice to advance Corry to second base. With the winning run in scoring position, a line drive to center field off the bat of Perez brought in Corry to complete an 11-10 comeback victory for the Bearcats.

“It’s a long game, and the beauty of the sport is, there’s no clock,” Sinicki said, “You have as much time as you as you need to try to come back from a deficit like that.”

Binghamton will go back on the road to take on Middle Tennessee in a three game set. The first pitch of the first game is set for Thursday, March 28 at 6 p.m. at Reese Smith Jr. Field in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.