Over the weekend, the Binghamton baseball team hosted Hartford for a three-game series against its America East (AE) opponent. After downing the Hawks in the first two games, the Bearcats failed to complete the sweep on Sunday as they exited the weekend with a 2-1 series win.

“You always wanna win a series,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “Part of me is happy that we were able to win two out of three, but there is a part of me that is disappointed that we weren’t able to sweep [Hartford] this weekend.”

Game one ended in extra innings as BU (7-19, 4-8 AE) capitalized on its home field advantage, downing Hartford (4-20, 3-9 AE) thanks to a walk-off single by freshman infielder Nick Roselli. Binghamton started off with a 2-1 lead after the first inning and later extended its advantage to five runs by the fifth inning. However, a five-run rally by the Hawks in the seventh allowed them to take the lead and eventually extend the game into extra innings. Junior pitcher Jack Collins kept the away team scoreless in the top of the 10th, allowing Roselli to drive in the game-winning run in the bottom half. Six Bearcat batters had multiple hits in game one resulting in a 15-hit performance on the day for the home team.

“You hope that winning gives guys confidence and that guys get to enjoy wins,” Sinicki said. “You feel what that’s like, and you hope that’s motivation to keep practicing hard and developing your skills. We’re gonna try to repeat that as we move forward.”

Game two saw a more one-sided battle, as BU’s pitching only allowed two Hartford runs while putting up nine of its own. The Hawks were on the board first, but an early response by Binghamton allowed it to take a 6-1 lead after the third inning. Junior outfielder Cavan Tully earned himself three RBIs in the second inning because of a bases-clearing double that gave the Bearcats the lead. Tully highlighted the offensive side for BU with a three-hit and three-RBI performance. On the mound, sophomore pitcher Gabe Driscoll’s performance helped give Binghamton a comfortable lead. Driscoll threw for eight innings while only allowing two hits and striking out 15 batters, setting a new BU single-game strikeout record previously held by Zach Groh.

“[Driscoll] did a wonderful job,” Sinicki said. “You don’t expect a guy to go up there and strike out 15 in eight innings. Especially in college baseball with the aluminum bats and it typically being an offensive game. I couldn’t say enough good things about his performance and his effort.”

The final game of the series was the lowest-scoring contest of the weekend. The first score of the game didn’t come until the sixth inning when Hartford took a 1-0 leadoff junior pitcher Ryan Bryggman. Sophomore catcher Kevin Reilly put up BU’s only run of the game hitting a solo homer in the seventh inning that tied the game. Hartford drove in the game’s final run in the eighth inning as Binghamton dropped the series finale 2-1. Tully and Reilly each recorded two hits. They were the only Bearcats to earn a hit on the day.

“We put up some runs in the first two games,” Sinicki said. “Hitting is not easy and today we ran into a kid who did a really good job against us. He threw a lot of fastballs … We just weren’t able to square up enough balls today. When he needed to make pitches, he made pitches and maybe a lot of our difficulties offensively should be more of a credit to the way that [he] pitched for Hartford.”

BU is slated to face Cornell for a nonconference game on Tuesday, April 12. First pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Bearcats Baseball Complex in Vestal, New York.