BALTIMORE, Md. - Junior outfielder Darian Herncane blasted his fifth and sixth home runs of the season to spark Binghamton baseball (16-20, 11-3 America East) to a 6-4 Game 2 win and a split of a doubleheadere at UMBC (18-17, 7-6 AE) Saturday at Alumni Field. The host Retrievers rallied with two runs in the sixth inning to take the opener 5-4. 

Binghamton tallied 11 hits in each game and at the end of the day, still had a two-game cushion atop the America East standings. 

In the nightcap, BU snapped a 1-1 tie with three runs in the top of the fourth inning. Herncane provided the final pair on a two-out, two-run shot over the left field wall. Earlier, sophomore catcher Jason Agresti hit his league-leading 13th double of the season to give Binghamton a lead it would not relinquish. 

UMBC nearly kept pace, however, answering with two runs in the bottom of the fourth and then trading single runs with the Bearcats in the sixth inning. Herncane hit a two-out solo home run in the sixth. 

Binghamton led 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth and UMBC had runners on first and third before senior starter Mike Bunal recorded a big inning-ending strikeout to strand two and keep the one-run margin. Then in the seventh, BU added an insurance run when Agresti plated senior second baseman Reed Gamache with a groundout. Gamache, who had hit a solo home run back in the third inning (4th of season), had opened the seventh with a single. 

Bunal (W, 4-3) faced the tying run in the bottom of the seventh after issuing a two-out walk, but recorded a game-ending strikeout to seal his fourth complete game of the season. 

Herncane went 2-for-3 with the two home runs and three RBI. Gamache had two hits and an RBI and senior third baseman David Schanz added two hits. 

In the opener, the teams combined for six runs in the first two innings before the pitching settled down.

The Retrievers used a two-run home run to pull ahead in the bottom of the first but BU tied it with two runs in the second. Schanz delivered a two-out RBI double and sophomore shortstop Paul Rufo scored on a wild pitch to knot the score at 3-3.

In the fourth, Schanz executed a squeeze bunt to give BU a 4-3 lead. But UMBC countered with back-to-back solo home runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to claim the winning margin. The Bearcats had a great opportunity to tie the game after sophomore outfielder Chris McGee opened the ninth with a double. But two groundouts and a strikeout ended the game. Binghamton went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position in the game.   

Junior first baseman Brendan Skidmore went 3-for-4, Schanz drove in two runs and McGee and junior left fielder Eddie Posavec added two hits apiece. Senior Rob Hardy tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in relief. 

The teams finish the three-game set with a single game at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Sophomore Jacob Wloczewski (2-0, 2.88 ERA) takes the hill for the Bearcats.