Over the weekend, the Binghamton baseball team traveled to NJIT for an America East (AE) series. The Bearcats recorded a clean sweep of the Highlanders, taking all three games to win their third-straight conference series.
NJIT (16-18, 10-8 AE) was on the board early in game one, courtesy of a home run in the first that put BU (13-21, 9-9 AE) in a three-run deficit. Binghamton was held scoreless until the third when two Bearcats got on base and freshman outfielder Logan Haskell drove a ball over the left-field fence to tie the game at three. Each side was held scoreless until the sixth when freshman infielder Nick Roselli came home on a fielder’s choice. Binghamton’s lead did not last long, however, as the Highlanders drilled their second homer of the game to tie it back up. Roselli scored again in the eighth off of an overthrow before BU added two insurance runs in the ninth to take a 7-4 lead. Junior pitcher Jack Collins came in for the close. He gave up a home run to the first batter he faced but got out of a two-baserunner jam to record the save.
In Saturday’s game, the Bearcats’ offense was shut down through the first six innings while yielding three runs. In the seventh, BU capitalized on an NJIT error to start the inning. The next three batters got on base, loading the diamond and walking in Binghamton’s first run of the game. Freshman catcher Evin Sullivan walked up to the plate next, and with no outs he pulled the ball deep over the left-field fence, earning himself a grand slam and giving Binghamton a 5-3 lead. The Bearcats scored one more run in the inning to cap off their rally to take a 6-3 advantage. Neither team scored for the remainder of the game, thanks in part to sophomore pitcher John Lumpinski’s relief performance. The Bearcat went four innings, allowing two hits, zero runs and striking out 10 of 14 batters faced, earning him his first win of the year.
On Sunday, scoring came at a premium as Binghamton took the series finale 3-1. Junior pitcher Ryan Bryggman loaded the bases in the third inning before beaming a Highlander to score the game’s first run. In the fourth inning, junior infielder Connor Aoki notched his eighth homer of the year to tie the game. Later in the inning, freshman infielder Devan Bade hit a single with the bases loaded to score two runs. Each team remained scoreless throughout the rest of the game, and Collins earned his second save of the series. Bryggman allowed only one run in six innings, earning his third win of the season and lowering his ERA to 4.41.
BU is now 8-2 in its last 10 AE games since starting conference play 1-7.
The Bearcats are next slated to take on Siena in a nonconference game on Tuesday, April 26. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Connors Park in Loudonville, New York.