VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (27-22, 19-4 America East) kept its nation-leading unblemished home record intact with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Maine (18-33, 7-15 AE) Friday afternoon. The first-place Bearcats won 7-3 and 4-2 at Varsity Field.Â
Binghamton, which wrapped up the regular season title last weekend, improved to 14-0 at home to remain the only unbeaten home team in the country. The Bearcats will have a chance to finish unbeaten when the teams complete their three-game series at 10 a.m. Saturday. Game time has been moved up two hours with rain expected in the area by mid-afternoon.Â
In the opener, BU trailed 2-0 before tallying four runs in the fifth inning and adding two more in the sixth. Senior second baseman
Reed Gamache belted a two-run home run to highlight the fifth-inning uprising. Gamache ripped a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center for his seventh of the season. Before that blast, BU loaded the bases and plated two runs on an RBI groundout by senior third baseman
David Schanz and a subsequent throwing error by the Maine second baseman.Â
In the sixth, BU added two more runs on three hits, including RBI singles by sophomore outfielders
Chris McGee and
CJ Krowiak. The teams traded runs in the eighth inning with freshman DH
Daniel Franchi delivering an RBI single to restore BU's four-run cushion..Â
The Black Bears, who stranded 11 baserunners in the game, brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth before sophomore
Dylan Stock got a strikeout to end the game.Â
Franchi went 2-for-3 with an RBI and sophomore shortstop
Paul Rufo went 2-for-3. Gamache bumped his team-leading RBI total to 45 thanks to his long ball.
In Game 2, BU trailed 2-1 before plating three decisive runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. The first four hitters all reached base and two came home on a two-run single up the middle by Schanz. Junior first baseman
Brendan Skidmore added an RBI groundout.
The Black Bears put two runners on in their final at-bat and had the tying run in scoring position but redshirt sophomore
Jacob Wloczewski recorded a line-out to right field to end the game. Wloczewski worked 2.0 scoreless innings to notch his first save of the season. Senior starter
Mike Bunal went 4.0 scoreless frames and allowed just two hits before giving way to sophomore
Jake Erhard (W, 1-0), who picked up the win with an opportunistic inning.
Gamache went 2-for-3 and Schanz and Skidmore drove in two runs apiece. Â Skidmore's other RBI was a deep double to the wall in right center in the fourth inning that gave BU an initial 1-0 lead.
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