VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (11-17) and Cornell (8-13) continue their rivalry when the two New York State neighbors play a single at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Cornell's Hoy Field. The game is the first of two between the two teams in 2016, with Binghamton hosting the other game in three weeks.
The Bearcats have won eight of their last 11 games and sit in first place in the America East standings one-third of the way through the conference slate. The team is fresh off a frustrating weekend, however, that ended with back-to-back walkoff losses at UMass Lowell. Binghamton ranks fourth in the America East in hitting (.271), seventh in pitching (5.77) and second in fielding (.979). The Bearcats rank ninth in the nation in fielding, having committed just 20 errors in 28 games.
Junior first baseman
Brendan Skidmore is tied for first in the conference with six home runs and is second with 24 RBI. Senior second baseman
Reed Gamache ranks fourth with 22 RBI. Sophomore center fielder
CJ Krowiak is second in runs scored (26) and fourth in hits (36).
Junior lefty
Nick Wegmann (0-0, 4.91 ERA) will start on the mound and begin a string of multiple pitchers who will toss an inning in a pre-determined midweek format.Â
Cornell is also coming off a tough weekend that saw the Big Red drop two extra-inning games and lose all four games (two each to Brown and Yale) by a combined six runs. In all, Cornell has dropped seven of its last nine following a stretch where it won five of six.
Junior Austin Wahl (0-1, 3.86 ERA) will make his first collegiate for the Big Red. Cornell's pitching staff has a 6.08 ERA.
The Big Red are hitting just .240 as a team. Junior Tommy Wagner leads the team and ranks fourth in the Ivy League with a .367 average. Sophomore Ellis Bitar ranks second on the team with a .325 average. Junior Cole Rutherford leads the squad with four home runs, two triples and 15 RBIs.
Cornell leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1984, 18-15. However since elevating to Division I in 2002, BU leads the series 13-10 and has won five of the last seven head-to-head. Last season, BU won 7-3 at Hoy Field. In that game, the Bearcats snapped a 2-2 deadlock with five runs in the eighth inning. Wegmann pitched two scoreless frames.
