VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (1-3, 1-3 America East) plays its first home series of the season when the Bearcats host UMass Lowell (4-9, 3-1 AE) Saturday and Sunday at downtown NYSEG Stadium. The teams will play doubleheaders (7-inning then 9-inning games) each day beginning at noon. 

The Bearcats finally got on a diamond last weekend - the last conference team to do so - and BU dropped three of four at Hartford. The teams split the Saturday twinbill before Hartford swept a pair on Sunday, winning a walk-off opener and then a 6-2 nightcap. 

Second baseman Alex Baratta had a big day on Saturday with six RBI in the two games. He and first baseman Kevin Gsell hit solo home runs in the opener and then he drove in five to key a 15-hit, 11-run outburst in BU's Game 2 win. Senior third baseman Justin Drpich hit .500 for the weekend (5-for-10) and outfielders Tommy Reifler and Shane Marshall collected four hits apiece. 

Binghamton received solid outings from its four starting pitchers, who had a collective 2.84 ERA. Sophomore Thomas Babalis allowed just one earned run in his 4.0 innings and junior Ryan Bryggman struck out a career-high nine in his 4.0 innings in Game 2. On Sunday, sophomore Jack Collins worked 6.0 innings and limited the Hawks to one run with five strikeouts and sophomore Josh Kopcza finished out the weekend with 5.0 innings and gave up just one earned run. 

UMass Lowell has played 13 games already this spring and took three of four from UMBC last weekend. After dropping the opening game, the River Hawks pounded UMBC pitching for 40 runs over the final three games of the series, including a 21-run barrage in Game 2 on Saturday. Outfielders Vinnie Martin (.333) and Cam Climo (4 HR, 13 RBI) are pacing the UML offense. 

The River Hawks return 25 letterwinners from last season and were picked to finish fifth of eight in the Coaches' Preseason Poll.  

Binghamton leads the all-time series 13-12. The Bearcats had won six straight head-to-head before the River Hawks took two of three at home in 2019. Binghamton is 10-3 at home in the series, though that margin is somewhat negated by the neutral NYSEG Stadium venue for this weekend, as BU's $60 million on-campus stadium is being built.   

NOTE: Due to New York State Department of Health and Broome County Department of Health guidelines, members of the public who are not registered guests of Binghamton student-athletes or coaches are not permitted to attend home contests. 

Weekend Matchups
Saturday, March 27 - noon (DH)
Game 1 (7 inn.): LHP Thomas Babalis (B) (0-1, 2.25 ERA) vs. RHP Collin Duffley (UML) (0-3, 4.50 ERA) | Live Stats | Video
Game 2 (9 inn.): RHP Ryan Bryggman (B) (0-0, 6.75 ERA) vs. RHP Matt Draper (UML) (0-2, 8.24 ERA) | Live Stats | Video 

Sunday, March 28 - noon (DH)
Game 1 (7 inn.): RHP Jack Collins (B) (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. RHP Joshua Becker (UML) (0-1, 5.74 ERA) | Live Stats | Video
Game 2 (9 inn.): RHP Josh Kopcza (B) (0-1, 1.80 ERA) vs. TBA (UML) | Live Stats | Video