Over the weekend, the Binghamton baseball team lost a pivotal series to NJIT, dropping three of four games. These three losses put Binghamton (15-17, 15-17 America East) two games behind of NJIT (20-22, 19-17 AE) for second place in Division B of the AE. The top two in the division will make the conference tournament.

“[I was] disappointed with our level of play and execution,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “We’ll practice hard and prepare the best we can for the final regular-season series this coming weekend.”

The Bearcats split Saturday’s doubleheader, winning the opening game 4-2 in eight innings while dropping the second contest 2-0 in nine innings.

The Bearcats saw a strong start from sophomore pitcher Thomas Babalis, who surrendered a run in the bottom of the first inning but was able to put up five scoreless innings after that. He was relieved by fellow sophomore pitcher Tanner Beang, who gave up a run in the seventh but was able to complete the save by finishing with a scoreless eighth.

Binghamton’s bats remained relatively cold during both games as they were only able to get four runs across in the first game and were shutout in the second game. Senior second baseman Alex Baratta had the hottest bat on the day, as he was able to record five hits in eight at bats across both games along with getting one RBI. Junior outfielder Shane Marshall also had a good day at the plate with four hits from eight at bats, an RBI and a run scored.

Sunday got off to a rough start for the Bearcats as they dropped the first game of the doubleheader by a score of 6-2. Sophomore pitcher Jack Collins had a rough start to the day, giving up two runs in the first inning before settling down and pitching three scoreless frames. Collins was tagged with the loss because he gave up one hit in the bottom of the fifth before exiting the game. This runner came around to score the winning run.

The Bearcats started the second game by loading the bases and then not scoring. Binghamton’s pitchers gave up the first two runs of the game before senior outfielder Daniel Franchi knocked in the tying runs. The Bearcats’ pitchers then immediately gave up the lead. In the sixth inning, the Bearcats were able to tie the game again before the lead was blown in the following half inning. After this post, the Bearcats’ bats went cold while NJIT’s bats became red hot as they charged to an 11-4 victory.

Franchi and Baratta were strong hitters for BU on Sunday. Franchi had four hits in seven at bats with three RBIs and a run scored. Baratta had two hits in seven at bats with a walk.

The Bearcats next take the field against Stony Brook to close out their regular season on Friday, May 21 and Saturday, May 22. First pitch is set for noon at NYSEG Stadium in Binghamton, New York.