Coming off of a win against NJIT on Sunday, the Binghamton baseball team hosted Siena on Tuesday for a one-game break from America East (AE) play. The Bearcats took control of the game early on, plating seven runs in the second inning, resisting the efforts of the Saints and coasting to a 9-4 victory.

“I made a conscious decision to get some guys in early in the game who don’t typically play,” said Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki. “We let our starters play the first three innings, and then I wanted to get some guys some at-bats and some time in the field.”

After a scoreless first inning, BU (21-14, 7-5 AE) began its attack on Siena (9-32, 3-9 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference [MAAC]) in the bottom of the second. Sophomore catcher Evin Sullivan led off the inning with a single up the middle. In the next at-bat, junior designated hitter Kevin Reilly kept the line moving with a double into right field. The Bearcats plated their first run of the game when sophomore infielder Devan Bade hit an RBI single. Junior shortstop Isaiah Corry continued the offensive output with another RBI that brought Reilly home.

The hosts were relentless in the second inning as they loaded the bases, with sophomore second baseman Nick Roselli ripping a single into right field to score two more runs for the Bearcats. Furthermore, a pick-off error by Siena brought junior outfielder Mike Gunning home from third, and two straight walks loaded the bases again.

“I’m just really glad to have as many guys contribute to a win as we did,” Sinicki said. “It makes everybody feel good and sets up the next two days of practice for everyone to be in good spirits and feel like they’re valuable members of the team.”

Despite a pitching change, the Saints couldn’t keep Binghamton from scoring as a Reilly walk brought Roselli home. The walks and runs kept coming, with junior outfielder Tommy Reifler walking on a full count to send senior first baseman Kevin Gsell home. Soon after, a fly out from Bade ended the inning with the bases still loaded and the Bearcats possessing a 7-0 advantage.

While Siena managed to load the bases in the top of the third, BU protected the lead and prevented the visitors from getting on the board. However, in the fourth inning the Saints scored their first run of the game off of a single into center field. The Bearcats answered in the bottom of the frame when sophomore outfielder Logan Haskell and Bade hit back-to-back sacrifice flies to plate Gsell and junior first baseman Andrew Tan, respectively, increasing the lead to 9-1.

“It’s always tricky when you want to throw multiple guys in a game,” Sinicki said. “The risk is there that everyone is not gonna have their best stuff. That’s the risk you run. It’s really impossible for everyone to be on point in one particular game or day, so I felt like our command wasn’t great in a lot of situations.”

Although Binghamton did not score for the rest of the game, it held Siena to just three more runs total to secure a 9-4 win. The Bearcats threw nine different pitchers, including junior pitcher John Lumpinski, who was credited with the win. Lumpinski only threw one inning, but struck out three of the five batters he faced.

“We gotta make sure our bullpen is ready to go,” Sinicki said. “We’ve been getting good starting pitching and that’s always a great thing, but no one is throwing nine inning complete games. So we’re gonna have to get good help from our bullpen, and our situational hitting hasn’t been all that strong this year. I think we need to do a better job of moving runners when we have an opportunity, and do a better job of getting guys in from third base.”

BU returns to action this Friday, April 28 against UMBC. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Bearcats Baseball Complex in Vestal, New York.