VESTAL, N.Y. - Keeping busy on its bye weekend from America East play, Binghamton baseball will play a pair of non-conference games Saturday and Sunday at the Bearcats Baseball Complex as Niagara and Central Connecticut State come to town. Cold weather altered the schedule, which was to begin on Friday. Now Binghamton (10-12) will face Niagara (6-18) Saturday at 3:30 p.m., immediately following Niagara's neutral site game against Central Connecticut State (11-9). The Bearcats will then face CCSU at noon on Sunday. 

The Bearcats are coming off a 6-4 loss at Bucknell on Wednesday - a defeat that followed two wins over Albany last weekend. Binghamton is hitting .252 as a team (4th in America East) and has a pitching ERA of 4.84 (1st).

Senior outfielder Sean Trenholm has nine RBI in his last three games and is the reigning America East Player of the Week. He leads BU with 18 RBI. Junior second baseman Alex Baratta is hitting .426 over his last 13 games with 12 RBI in that span. Junior outfielder Daniel Franchi has scored 10 runs in BU's last eight games. Today's starter is senior right-hander Nick Gallagher (0-3, 4.36 ERA), who is coming off 7+ innings of no-hit ball at Albany last Saturday. Gallagher took a no-hitter and the lead into the eighth inning of a game BU eventually lost in extra innings.         

Senior Nick Gallagher (0-3, 4.36 ERA) will start Saturday's game and junior Ben Anderson (4-1, 2.61 ERA) will start on Sunday. Gallagher is coming off seven no-hit innings at Albany last weekend. Anderson leads the America East in strikeouts and wins.            
    
Niagara has dropped four straight since taking two of three conference games against Rider. The team was picked to finish eighth (of 11) in the MAAC Preseason Poll after going 13-11 in league play last year (24-27 overall). The Purple Eagles are hitting .225 as a team and has a 6.52 pitching ERA. Junior second baseman Michael Gabrielle leads the team with a .280 average. Junior first baseman Peter Battaglia was a preseason All-MAAC selection.  

CCSU was picked to finish sixth (of seven) in the Northeast Conference Preseason Poll. The Blue Devils returned two all-conference players from an 18-28 team of a year ago.
They have a .232 team batting average but a solid 4.81 pitching ERA. Junior designated hitter Chandler DeBrosse leads the team with a .304 average. Junior first baseman Dave Matthews has a team-best 10 extra base hits and 14 RBI.  

The Bearcats are 2-1 all-time vs. Niagara and are 7-7 against CCSU. Binghamton last played Niagara in 2011, winning 4-2. The teams split a doubleheader back in 2006. Binghamton and CCSU split a twinbill to end the 2018 season. The Bearcats took three of five games from CCSU in 2017.

WEEKEND SCHEDULE
Saturday, April 6
Noon - Matthew Brash (Niagara) (1-5, 3.19 ERA) vs. RHP Tom Curtin (CCSU) (2-1, 4.18 ERA) Live Stats
3:30 p.m. (approx.) RHP Nick Gallagher (0-3, 4.36 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Howard (Niagara) (3-4, 4.86 ERA) Live Video Live Stats 

Sunday, April 7
Noon - RHP Ben Anderson (4-1, 2.61 ERA) vs.  RHP Brandon Fox (CCSU) (1-2, 3.06 ERA) Live Video Live Stats