VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (3-3), winners of three in a row, will face a stern test this weekend with a four-game set at No. 19 Virginia Tech (8-1). Weather permitting, the teams will open with a single game at 2 p.m. on Friday, then play a twinbill Saturday and the finale on Sunday - all at English Field at Union Park. 

Binghamton evened its record with a 3-0 showing in Richmond last weekend. The Bearcats scored 31 runs in the three games and beat Toledo twice before blanking the host Spiders 15-0 to put an exclamation point on the trip.

Sophomore third baseman Justin Yurchak, the reigning America East Player of the Week, is hitting .654 (fourth in nation) with 17 hits and nine runs scored in six games. He has an on-base percentage of .690 (sixth in nation) and a slugging mark of .808. Senior outfielder Darian Herncane (.375, HR, 4 RBI, 4 SB) and junior shortstop Paul Rufo (.318, HR) are also off to fast starts at the plate. 

Binghamton will pitch senior Jake Cryts (0-0, 8.10 ERA) in Friday's opener and then follow with junior Jacob Wloczewski (0-1, 5.14) and sophomore Nick Gallagher (1-1, 1.00) on Saturday. Junior left-hander Nick Wegmann (1-1, 4.91) will start Sunday's finale.

The Bearcats are 0-1 all-time against Virginia Tech and 4-6 all-time against teams from the ACC. In 2008, the Hokies defeated BU 12-1 in Blacksburg. Binghamton's wins against the ACC came against Maryland (doubleheader sweep in 2003), Duke (7-6 win in 2014) and Boston College (9-3 win in 2014). This will be the first nationally-ranked regular season opponent BU has faced since playing No. 4 Arkansas in a three-game series in 2012.

Virginia Tech started its season with four straight road wins and is coming off a 9-7 win over Radford on Tuesday. The heavy-hitting Hokies are batting .344 as a team and have blasted an NCAA-leading 23 home runs in nine games. The team is ranked nationally in the Top-10 in eight categories: first in home runs (23), second in slugging percentage (.641) and hits (118) and fifth in runs scored (88). 

Individually, numerous Hokies are ranked in the nation's Top-10, including the infield tandem of junior third baseman Sam Fragale and senior shortstop Ryan Tufts, who sit 1-2 in total bases. Fragale ranks third in slugging (1.088) and fourth in home runs (5) and Tufts is fifth in doubles (6). Tufts is hitting .472 with four home runs and 10 RBI and Fragale is hitting .441 with 15 RBI. 

The hosts are expected to throw junior lefty Packy Naughton (1-0, 2.79 ERA) in Friday's opener and then pitch junior right-handers Andrew McDonald (1-0, 4.05) and Joey Suullivan (0-1, 6.48) on Saturday. Sunday's starter has not been declared.