Live Stats

Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

VESTAL, N.Y. - Riding a four-game win streak, Binghamton baseball will look to continue its ascent in the America East standings when the Bearcats (8-12, 3-5 AE) begin a three-game weekend series at Hartford (11-16, 4-3 AE) on Saturday at Fiondella Field. The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon and finish out the series with a single game at noon on Sunday.

Binghamton is coming off a wild 18-15 11-inning win at Canisius on Wednesday in a game that featured 33 runs, 27 hits, 25 walks and nine hit batters. Each team exhausted six pitchers in the nearly-five-hour affair, which saw five lead changes. The Bearcats plated three runs in the 11^th inning for the final margin.

Senior center fielder Zach Blanden went 4-for-7 with a three-run home run and four RBI. Blanden hit his blast over the left field wall in the fifth inning as BU was climbing back from an 11-6 deficit. He then added an RBI hit in the 11^th inning. Blanden sits atop the America East in on-base percentage (.478) and ranks second in both average (.368) and slugging (.566).

Junior second baseman Reed Gamache had two hits and three RBI at Canisius. Sophomore infielder Brendan Skidmore had two hits and two RBI, bumping up his team-leading RBI count to 17.

Senior right fielder Jake Thomas reached base five times and freshman left fielder CJ Krowiak scored three runs, had an RBI and tied a school record with four walks. Thomas is tied with Blanden for the conference lead in on-base percentage (.478) and is hitting .365 with a team-high eight doubles.

Scheduled to start on the hill are senior Greg Ostner (1-4, 6.08 ERA) and junior Mike Bunal (2-3, 5.09 ERA) on Saturday and junior Rob Hardy (1-2, 5.08 ERA) on Sunday.

Hartford has won two straight and four of its last six. The Hawks no-hit Sacred Heart in a 10-0 win on Tuesday and followed it up with a 6-1 victory over visiting UConn on Wednesday. In conference play, Hartford won two of three against UMBC, split a pair with Maine and dropped two of three at Albany last weekend. The team was picked to finish fourth in the Coaches' Preseason Poll and currently sits in fourth. Last season, the Hawks won 31 games and reached the America East tournament for the first time in 18 years. That team rode the left arm of America East Pitcher of the Year Sean Newcomb, who was then drafted by the Los Angeles Angels with the 15^th overall pick in the MLB Draft. The Bearcats won't mind Newcomb's early exit from the college ranks after he beat BU three times last season. Right-hander Brian Hunter went to Cincinnati in the ninth round after giving Hartford a formidable 1-2 punch on the hill.

Back for the Hawks this season are second team all-conference picks David MacKinnon and Ryan Lukach. MacKinnon, a sophomore first baseman, is hitting .322 with 19 walks. Lukach, a senior outfielder, wields a power bat with four home runs and 22 RBI. The Hawks are hitting .259 as a team.

Hartford will send juniors Kyle Gauthier (2-4, 4.40 ERA) and Sam McKay (3-3, 3.41 ERA) to the mound on Saturday and finish with junior Brian Murphy (0-2, 3.48 ERA) on Sunday. All are right-handers.

Binghamton leads the all-time series 39-12, though the teams have split the last eight games. They met six times last season, splitting four regular-season games and then splitting two games at the America East tournament. The Bearcats got the final shot in at Lowell, eliminating Hartford with an 8-0 win en route to the team's improbable conference championship after an opening-round loss to the Newcomb-led Hawks. In West Hartford last March, the Hawks took two of three.