COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Binghamton baseball outscored No. 1-ranked Texas A&M over the final seven innings but the host Aggies held on for a 4-2 win in a tense NCAA Regional opener Friday night at Blue Bell Park. With the loss, BU drops into the loser's bracket and will face Minnesota in an elimination game at 4 p.m. (ET) Saturday on ESPN3.

Relievers Nick Wegmann and Jacob Wloczewski stymied the SEC champions over the final 4 1/3 innings and BU brought the tying run to the plate in both the seventh and ninth innings but just fell short in the upset bid.

"I'm incredibly proud of the way our guys competed tonight against one of the premier programs in the country in a great environment," head coach Tim Sinicki said. "I thought we showed people that we certainly didn't come here just for a vacation in College Station. I thought we gave them everything they could handle. We made a couple mistakes and it cost us and their pitcher did a great job after giving up a few hits in the first inning, settling down and keeping us offensively in check for the rest of the game so hats off to them." 

Wegmann and Wloczewski combined to allow just three hits and no earned runs and BU scored runs in the fourth and sixth innings to turn a 3-0 deficit into a tight game. The Bearcats got into the A&M bullpen by the sixth inning and kept the near-sellout crowd of 5,754 on edge until the final out. 

Junior catcher Eddie Posavec went 2-for-4 with an RBI and threw out two Aggies baserunners from behind the plate. Senior Reed Gamache, junior Brendan Skidmore and sophomores Paul Rufo and Chris McGee also delivered hits. 

Binghamton threatened right out of the gate, collecting three singles in the top of the first inning before a putout at the plate kept the game scoreless. With two outs, Gamache singled to right and Skidmore followed with a single to left. Posavec hit a single to right but Aggies' right fielder Nick Banks threw out Gamache at the plate.

Texas A&M struck for three runs in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, the hosts used a single and then a two-run home run to jump ahead 2-0. A two-out infield error on a bases-loaded grounder scored the third run, which was unearned. 

The Bearcats got on the board in their half of the fourth. Gamache drew a leadoff wak and with two outs, sophomore catcher Jason Agresti grounded to short but Aggies' shortstop Austin Homan threw the ball away at first, allowing Gamache to score and cut BU's deficit to 3-1. 

The Aggies scored another unearned run in the fifth on two singles, a wild pitch and an error to make it 4-1.

But BU answered in the sixth when Schanz and Gamache were hit by pitch and Posavec came through with an RBI single up the middle. Down 4-2 with two runners on and just one out, BU missed an opportunity when Aggies' reliever Andrew Vinson came in and struck out back-to-back hitters to end the rally. Vinson fanned six in his 2.2 innings of work. 

Strong performances from the pair of BU relievers kept this game close. Wegmann relieved senior starter Mike Bunal (L, 3.2 IP) with the bases loaded in the fourth and got a big strikeout to keep A&M off the board. Then in the fifth, Wegmann stranded two in scoring position with another strikeout. Wloczewski got the final out in the sixth to leave two and then struck out the side in the seventh, including a sit-down of Aggies' slugger Hunter Melton, who entered the game with 65 RBI. He struck out three and didn't allow a hit in 2.1 innings.  

Gamache made the defensive play of the game in the eighth inning with a full extension dive in shallow right field to rob a hit from A&M third baseman Boomer White.  

The Bearcats drew praise from Aggies' head coach Rob Childress.

"We had a very tough test with Binghamton," he said. "They are very well coached and fundamentally sound. Their starter did a very nice job; he was up to 92 on the gun with a really good slider. Each guy that they brought in did a nice job. You have to give Binghamton a lot of credit ... they were well-prepared. Their first guy and their last guy can pitch for anyone in the country. We were very fortunate to come out on the winning end tonight."

Junior Jake Cryts 7-4, 5.04 ERA) will start against Minnesota on Saturday. 

NOTES
With his two throws down to second, Posavec has now thrown out 45 percent of baserunners this season (13-of-29)... Bunal recorded three strikeouts to break the school record for strikeouts in a season (87). The previous mark of 86 was set by Hall of Famer Zach Groh in 2007... The Bearcats have never faced Minnesota. A win over the Gophers would advance BU into a 4 p.m. Sunday game against the loser of the Texas A&M vs. Wake Forest game.