Last season, the Binghamton baseball team wrapped up its regular season in fourth place, which would have been good enough for a playoff spot, setting up a first-round matchup against top-seeded Vermont in the America East tournament.

But thanks to an early season rainout, the Bearcats were required to play a makeup game against Stony Brook, a team that had already qualified for the playoffs. The game was the Bearcats’ fourth in five days, and after an overnight bus trip to Long Island, the over-worked squad was trounced 12-3 and knocked out of the playoffs before they had even begun.

Fast forward a year and the America East looks pretty different. That same Bearcat club now sits in first place, with Stony Brook trailing by three games. And just like last year, Binghamton has a chance to head into the AE tournament with a strong series.

The potential exists for the Bearcats to clinch a playoff berth this weekend, as BU hosts Stony Brook in a four-game set starting today at 3 p.m. Binghamton’s playoff stance also depends on how Albany and Maine fare in their weekend games against Hartford and Vermont, respectively.

A win in the series also puts some breathing room between Stony Brook and Binghamton for first place in the AE. The first place team hosts the conference tournament Memorial Day weekend. Binghamton is 13-2 against conference opponents this season.

The Bearcats have won all four conference series this year, sweeping two of them. One common trend in each of those series has been winning the first game. The team has stressed all season the importance of winning the Friday game to set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Binghamton will once again turn to Zach Groh to set the tone. Groh set the school’s Division I strikeout record with 14 k’s last Friday and ranks first in the AE in strikeouts with 61. Stony Brook’s Tom Koehler, who ranks third in the AE with 55 strikeouts, will likely oppose Groh.

The Bearcat pitching staff as a whole leads the AE with a 4.20 ERA, 27 points ahead of the second place Seawolves.

All four Bearcat starters rank in the AE’s top 10 in ERA, with Sunday’s starter Mike Van Gorder ranked second, tomorrow’s game-two starter Jeff Dennis ranked third, Groh ranked eighth and tomorrow’s game-one starter Scott Diamond in ninth place.

‘What they do as a group, even beyond numbers, is that every one of them has a competitiveness about them,’ head coach Tim Sinicki said. ‘They just keep attacking. They’re four special kids, really.’

The Bearcat bats will look to back up the pitching staff this weekend against Stony Brook’s vaunted rotation.

Brendon Hitchcock, who was named ECAC player of the week this week, is coming off a 9-for-13 series against Hartford last weekend. He kept the hot bat alive, hitting a home run against Le Moyne on Tuesday.

The senior first baseman leads the America East with a .421 batting average. Teammates Matt Simek and Justin Smucker also rank in the league’s top 10.

Stony Brook’s top hitter, lead-off man Brian Witkowski, is hitting .315.

The Bearcats are coming off a midweek loss, but could not be hotter in conference play.

‘This is the time you want to get it going into the tournament,’ Hitchcock said after last week’s series.

Game time is set for today at 3 p.m., and tomorrow and Sunday at noon at Varsity Field.