After dropping two of three to Albany last weekend, the Binghamton baseball team had its following matchup with Cornell canceled Wednesday. The Bearcats (12-15-1, 6-8 America East) now look ahead to a non-conference weekend series with New York Institute of Technology. And while Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki originally had plans to play some of the team’s non-starters against Cornell, he doesn’t plan on using that strategy this weekend.
“I think we need to find ourselves a little bit this weekend in some areas,” Sinicki said. “I think we have to continue to run the guys out that we think we’re going to move forward with in conference games. We’ll get some guys some time, but it won’t be the mass lineup change like we do in midweek non-conference games.”
Sinicki wants to give these players chances next week, however, and plans to give them those opportunities in Tuesday’s doubleheader against St. Bonaventure. As for the starters, Sinicki sees this weekend as a turning point for the BU bullpen, which allowed 14 runs over the three-game series against the Great Danes.
“One thing that we saw was that our bullpen didn’t do a great job for us,” Sinicki said. “We need to continue to try to find ways to solidify that. I think offensively, we’re swinging the bat pretty well and we need to put those kinds of runs up until what we have is a stable situation out in the bullpen.”
Run support has not been a problem for the Bearcats, as the team leads the AE with 175 runs scored over its 28 games. Leading the charge for the Bearcats are senior outfielders Zach Blanden and Jake Thomas, who have scored a combined 54 runs. Both four-year starters, Blanden’s and Thomas’ play has flourished in the eyes of the head coach, as the two are peaking at the right time.
“I think that’s what you need and what you expect out of those types of players,” Sinicki said. “They’ve continued to get better each and every year. They’re capping off their careers right now with outstanding offensive years.”
First pitch against NYIT (10-20) is set for noon Saturday, with the second game following shortly after. Sunday’s matchup is set to begin at noon. All games will be played at Angelo Lorenzo Memorial Field in Old Westbury, New York.