With an opportunity to advance in the America East standings, the Binghamton baseball team swept Hartford in a three-game series this weekend at the Bearcats Sports Complex.
The Bearcats (24-19, 13-10 America East) moved into third place, dropping the Hawks (14-31, 11-13 AE) into a fourth place tie with Stony Brook. Binghamton stands just a half-game behind second-place Albany.
Junior second baseman Daniel Nevares carried Binghamton’s offense over the weekend, driving in seven runs and hitting .444 overall. He brought in all three Bearcat runs in the opener, scored the nightcap’s winning run and laced a three-run homer in the series finale. With two more doubles, he raised his team-best total to 16, just three short of the school’s single-season doubles record.
The America East named Nevares its Player of the Week on Monday.
BU’s closest match was Saturday’s nightcap, which went 10 innings. The Hawks scored twice in the first inning and tallied two more through the third and fifth, while the Bearcats managed just one in the fourth frame before scratching out three unearned runs on one hit in the seventh.
The score remained frozen until Hartford picked up its go-ahead run in the top of the 10th on a two-out RBI single.
But Binghamton junior first baseman Brian Ruby drove in sophomore left fielder Jake Thomas with a sacrifice fly before Hartford could record an out. Two batters later, sophomore catcher Nick Pancerella reached on an infield single with the bases loaded, and Nevares scored the winning run.
Sophomore reliever Anthony Grillini earned the win, allowing just two hits and one run in 5.2 innings of work. Hartford outhit BU in this game, 10-3.
Prior to the high-pressure nightcap, the Bearcats secured the opener, 3-2, after lagging behind 2-0 for five innings. Nevares struck a bases-clearing double, bringing in junior center fielder Bill Bereszniewicz, freshman third baseman David Schanz and Thomas to culminate the game’s scoring.
Senior pitcher Jake Lambert scattered six hits and one earned run for the win. He retired the side in order in four of seven innings.
The Bearcats completed the sweep on Sunday, coasting to an 8-2 victory. Up 2-0 in the sixth, Binghamton used a two-run double from Nevares to extend its lead. Nevares would also blast a three-run homer an inning later.
The Bearcats’ seventh opened up with Bereszniewicz and sophomore right fielder Zach Blanden taking first and second off a single and a walk, respectively, before Schanz drove in BU’s fifth run with a sacrifice fly. Nevares then belted his homer, as the Bearcats plated their final three runs of the game.
Senior Jay Lynch earned the win, holding the Hawks to two runs on seven hits in eight innings.
The Bearcats are next scheduled to host first-place Maine, which holds a three-game lead over Binghamton, for a three-game series this weekend. Saturday’s twin bill is set for noon at the Bearcats Sports Complex, while Sunday’s closer is set for 1 p.m.