HOUSTON, Texas - Junior outfielder Darian Herncane launched a two-out grand slam in the ninth inning to lift Binghamton baseball (1-3) to an 11-9 win over host Houston Baptist (3-1) in the series finale Saturday afternoon. The Huskies won the opener 4-3.

Herncane came to the plate with the bases loaded and BU down 9-7. He promplty deposited a first-pitch fastball over the left field wall to give the Bearcats the winning cushion. It was his first career home run. Freshman reliever Cal Lawrence (W, 1-0) retired HBU 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to close out the win. 

The Bearcats trailed 5-1 before rallying with four runs in the seventh and one more in the eighth to take a 6-5 lead. But the Huskies scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to reclaim the lead, 9-6.

In the ninth, senior third baseman David Schanz led off with a single and after a strikeout, junior first baseman Brendan Skidmore was hit by a pitch. Sophomore pinch hitter Jason Agresti then delivered an RBI single to make it 9-7. After a flyout brought BU to the brink of defeat, sophomore shortstop Luke Tevlin drew a walk to load the bases and set the stage for the dramatic Herncane blast off HBU's closer. 

Herncane also had an RBI single in the fourth inning and wound up with a career-high five RBI. Senior second baseman Reed Gamache ripped a two-out, three-run home run in the seventh inning to begin BU's comeback. Schanz wound up 2-for-4 with two runs scored and freshman right fielder Daniel Franchi went 2-for-5 with two RBI. Sophomore DH Pat Britt was 2-for-4 and hit a team-best .545 (6-for-11) on the weekend.

Junior reliever Nicholas Liegi faired the best of five Bearcat pitchers, going 2.2 scoreless innings. Liegi, who relieved starter Nick Gallagher in the second inning, allowed just one hit.

In the opener, BU led 3-0 before HBU scored once in the fourth and three times in the sixth. The Bearcats outhit their hosts for the second straight game (9-6) but came up one run short after being kept off the scoreboard for eight of the nine innings. Down 4-3, BU put the tying run on base in both the eighth and ninth innings but couldn't capitalize.

In the fourth inning, Skidmore hit a two-out, two-run single and Britt followed with an RBI triple to stake BU to a 3-0 lead.

Britt wound up 2-for-3 with an RBI. The first eight hitters the lineup all collected hits.

Junior Jake Cryts pitched 5.1 innings and allowed three runs on four hits. Sophomore reliever Dylan Stock (L, 0-1) went the final 2.2 innings.

Binghamton begins a three-game weekend set at UNC-Greensboro on Friday.