The Binghamton baseball team has spent all season stressing the importance of winning the Friday game of their weekend conference series. And after playing four conference series, the Bearcats are 4-for-4 on Fridays and have won every conference series.

This weekend was the latest example, with Zach Groh turning in a Division I school-record 14 strikeouts en route to an 11-4 series opening victory that set the stage for a series sweep of the Hartford Hawks. The Bearcats won 5-4 and 5-2 on Saturday, and then completed the sweep with a 9-3 victory Sunday at Varsity Field.

‘We’ve come to realize how important winning the first game really is,’ senior first baseman Brendon Hitchcock said.

‘Winning the first three takes a lot of pressure off,’ senior second baseman Matt Simek added. ‘It makes you a lot more comfortable to take chances in the last game.’

The Bearcats maintain their first place standing in the America East with a record of 13-2. They also lead the AE in ERA, and are third in batting average.

It was Groh who stole the show on Friday, breaking the previous record of 10 strikeouts, which he previously shared with David Eagan. The reigning AE Pitcher of the Year gave up two runs on two hits to the Hawks in the first inning, but also struck out the side.

He would add one strikeout in the second, three in the third, two in the fourth, three in the fifth and one each in the sixth and seventh before yielding to Gio Yannuzzi in the eighth inning.

‘He mixed his pitches a little bit differently,’ head coach Tim Sinicki said, noting that Groh mixed in his curveball in addition to his trademark slider. ‘That added to his effectiveness.’

Groh now leads the AE in strikeouts and ranks seventh in ERA.

Simek and Hitchcock wielded the big bats for the Bearcats on Friday, and all weekend. In Friday’s game Simek drove in three RBIs, including a two-run single that tied the game in the bottom of the first.

Hitchcock went 2-for-2 with two RBI and two runs.

Senior catcher Pat Haughie was the hero in the opener on Saturday, driving a two-out 2-2 pitch to center field to drive in Simek, who had doubled with two outs to keep the inning alive. Junior closer Khalid Afify earned the win in the walk-off victory, improving to 4-1 on the season. Afify came in with runners on first and third and two outs in the sixth and struck out Hartford’s leadoff hitter to end the threat.

Afify has not allowed a run in conference play, and AE opponents are hitting .050 off him.

Haughie was 2-for-4 with three RBI, Simek was 3-for-3 and Hitchocock 2-for-4 with an RBI.

In game two Hitchcock hit a three-run home run in the third inning, and Jeff Dennis took a shutout into the seventh inning. Dennis struck out eight and walked one, allowing one run. And despite being outhit by the Hawks 4-3, Hitchcock’s longball proved to be the difference.

On Sunday the Bearcats pounded out 13 hits to come from behind and win. Senior righty Mike Van Gorder went seven innings to earn his fourth victory of the season.

Hitchcock capped his weekend with a 4-for-5 three RBI performance. He also scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning when he and Simek both scored on a ground ball from Haughie.

Haughie grounded the ball at the Hartford shortstop and Hitchcock came around to score. Hartford’s shortstop then misplayed the ball and overthrew first base, allowing Simek to score and make the game 5-3.

‘That was tough because I had to read Hitch,’ Simek said.

Simek had a pair of RBIs on the day. For the series, Hitchcock hit .692 and drove in nine runs. At the end of the weekend, Hitchcock led the America East batting race by 46 points, hitting .421 with a .511 on base percentage. He was named America East Player of the Week on Monday. Simek is tied for second in the conference with 27 RBIs.

The Bearcats will head north to take on LeMoyne today at 4 p.m. before coming home for a big conference showdown against second place Stony Brook this weekend.