Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)

VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (12-15-1) takes a break from America East play this weekend when the Bearcats take on host NYIT (10-20) in a three-game set on Long Island. The teams will play a Saturday twinbill beginning at noon and finish up the series with a single game Sunday at noon at Lorenzo Field in Old Westbury.

Binghamton had its scheduled midweek game against Cornell cancelled when both rain and temperatures dropped. The Bearcats are eager to erase the memories of a frustrating home weekend series against Albany. Binghamton squandered a big lead in the Game 1 loss and after winning the second game, BU let a late-inning lead slip away in the Game 3 loss. The two losses means BU (6-8 AE) currently occupies the fourth and final America East playoff spot but four teams are separated by just one game in the loss column.  

The weekend followed a four-game unbeaten streak that included three wins and a rare tie (April 15 vs. Marist).

The senior outfield tandem of Zach Blanden and Jake Thomas continues to rank near the top of the America East in nearly every offensive category. Blanden leads the league in average, runs, slugging (.602) and on-base percentage (.484). Thomas is second in on-base (.481) and third in both average and slugging (.552). Sophomore infielder Brendan Skidmore ranks second in home runs (4) and third in RBI.

The Bearcats will use senior right-hander Greg Ostner (1-4, 5.17 ERA) and junior right-hander Mike Bunal (4-3, 4.50 ERA) on Saturday and finish the series with junior righty Rob Hardy (2-2, 5.21 ERA) on Sunday.

Binghamton is batting .280 as a team and its pitching staff carries a 5.84 ERA.

Head coach Tim Sinicki is two wins away from the 500-win milestone. Blanden is two hits shy of the 200-hit plateau and Thomas is five hits away from 200. 

NYIT has played a hectic schedule of late and by the time the BU series is complete, the Bears will have played 10 games in 10 days. They have lost eight of their last 11 games but are coming off a 5-1 home win over Iona on Thursday. Earlier in the week, NYIT dropped games at Manhattan (6-3 and 12-5) and at Army (10-0). 

The team is hitting just .235 but its starting pitching is strong. Sophomore third baseman Louis Mele leads the team in batting (.366), home runs (5) and RBI (27). Junior outfielder and leadoff hitter Joe Daru has a team-high 21 stolen bases. On the hill, NYIT is expected to start a pair of sophomore right-handers Matt Diaz (1-3, 4.01 ERA) and Elias Martinez (1-4, 4.19 ERA) on Saturday. Sophomore lefty David Plotkin (3-0, 2.91 ERA) will pitch on Sunday.        

The teams haven't played since they both were members of the Division I New York State Baseball Conference (NYSBC) in 2001. NYIT won all three meetings that season and leads the all-time series 4-0.