ORONO, Maine - Binghamton baseball received a strong combination pitching performance from senior Nick Gallagher and freshman Jack Collins Friday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond and earned a doubleheader split at Maine with a 2-1 win in the nightcap. The Black Bears began the day with a 4-1 win in the opener. With the split, BU is assured of finishing no worse than third in the standings and can grab the No. 2 seed (and its first-round bye) with a win on Sunday plus an Albany loss.

Gallagher struck out eight and allowed just one run on four hits in 5.0 innings, departing in a 1-1 game. Collins (W, 2-2) worked the final 2.0 scoreless innings and struck out three, including a pair in the seventh inning when Maine had the tying run aboard. 

The Bearcats snapped the tie with a run in the top of the seventh, courtesy of an RBI fielder's choice grounder  by sophomore shortstop Jake Evans. With one out, senior right fielder Anthony Meduri hit a single and sophomore pinch hitter Sam Freedman followed with a single. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and then junior third baseman Justin Drpich was intentionally walked to load the bases for Evans. He hit a hard grounder up the middle that turned into a force at second, but Meduri scored with the eventual winning run. 

Binghamton was held to four hits - one being a third-inning solo home run by junior catcher TJ Wegmann. Wegmann led off the third and belted a 1-0 pitch well over the wall in right field to give BU a 1-0 lead. 

In the opener, the Bearcats couldn't take advantage of early baserunners (5 LOB in first 3 inn.) and Maine collected 12 hits to pull away. Sophomore center fielder Shane Marshall went 3-for-4 with an RBI and junior left fielder Daniel Franchi went 2-for-4. But BU managed only three hits over the final six innings (two by Marshall) and the Black Bears snapped a 1-1 tie with two runs in the third and added a final run in the eighth.

Junior starter Ben Anderson (L, 8-4) absorbed the loss but along the way, became only the seventh pitcher in the 30-year history of the America East to reach the century mark in season strikeouts. Already the BU record holder, Anderson fanned six to bring his season total to 104. The five players ahead of him all reached the Major Leagues.  

The teams play the final game of the regular season at 11 a.m. Sunday. Binghamton then returns home to host the six-team America East tournament beginning on Wednesday at the Bearcats Baseball Complex.