The Binghamton baseball team had a bounce-back series this past weekend, winning 2-of-3 against Elon University on the road. After comfortably winning the first two games of the series, the Bearcats were unable to complete the sweep as they closed the weekend 2-1.

“You go on the road, and you’re on the road Thursday for nearly 11 hours, and you get off the bus and you play the way we did Friday and Saturday, and you feel pretty good about what the guys were able to do,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “We did good things, both on the mound and in the box and defensively.”

Game one on Friday afternoon was the highest-scoring one in the series, with both squads being blanked on the scoreboard through five periods. Graduate student starting pitcher Ryan Packard delivered five scoreless innings with just one hit in his second outing with the team, as he now holds a 1.00 ERA on the season. Binghamton (2-4) put up the first two runs of the game in the top of the sixth inning, thanks in part to an RBI double by senior catcher Zach Rogacki.

Elon (2-5) responded with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, tying the game at 2. The top of the eighth saw junior infielder Zack Kent deliver two more RBIs for the team with a single through the right side. Elon, however, answered with two more runs of their own in the bottom of the inning. The ninth inning saw the Bearcats break away with four more runs, which included another RBI from Kent, giving him four on the day, as BU won 8-4.

“The guys really believe in [Packard],” Sinicki said. “He believes in himself, which is really important. [The team] enjoys playing behind him. As a transfer student, he’s made an immediate impact within the team … the guys have a lot of confidence when he takes the mound.”

Game two saw another dominant performance from a Binghamton starting pitcher, this time from freshman starting pitcher Brady Bouchard, who pitched six scoreless innings. The game saw Binghamton take the lead in the top of the fifth, with freshman outfielder Matt Bolton delivering the first run of the game with an RBI double. Senior infielder Devan Bade doubled to right field and drove in another run in the fifth, making it 2-0 Binghamton. The Bearcats proceeded to put up five more runs over the next four innings, shutting Elon out 7-0.

“I don’t want to say it’s a surprise, because it’s not,” Sinicki said. “[Bouchard] earned the opportunity to be our No. 2 starter through his bullpen and his preseason work … He had command of the entire game while he was in there. He was making good pitches. He only had two strikeouts but he didn’t walk anybody.”

Game three saw the Phoenix take an early 1-0 lead in the first, but the Bearcats answered with a run of their own in the top of the second, driven in by junior infielder Mike Stellrecht, who earned their only RBI of the day, making it a 1-1 game. Elon put on another run in the bottom of the second, but Binghamton once again answered in the third, with Sullivan scoring on a throwing error, tying the game at 2-2. Elon then put up six unanswered runs over the remainder of the game, winning with a final score of 8-2, despite having four errors during the game. While the result in the final game was not ideal, Sinicki’s confident that the team will bounce back as the season continues.

“It’s just a matter of execution,” said Sinicki. “These are things that will come in time, the more we play, the more we get to practice outside … We’ll continue to grow and learn from everything we’ve done in the past two weekends.”

The Bearcats will look to add another win to their record when they take on Siena College on Friday, Feb. 28. First pitch is set for 11 a.m. at Thomas Stadium in Johnson City, Tennessee.