VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (5-7 America East) welcomes first-year conference member NJIT for a four-game set this weekend at downtown Rumbletown Stadium. The teams are scheduled to play a doubleheader both days beginning at noon each day. The full series will be broadcast on America East TV. 

The Bearcats dropped a pair to Albany in a rain-shortened series last weekend. The first loss was a 12-inning, 7-3 setback in a game that was scheduled to go seven innings before extending five extra frames before the visiting Great Danes scored the four deciding runs. Then Albany completed the sweep with a 5-3 win in the seven-inning nightcap.

The losses tainted a record-tying performance from senior outfielder Daniel Franchi, who went 5-for-6 in the extra-inning opener to tie the school single-game record for hits and also tie the best performance from an America East hitter this spring. Fellow outfielder Tommy Reifler kept up his hot hitting and remained atop the team's batting stats with a .419 average, which also ranks 20th in the nation. Reifler ranks second in the conference in both average and on-base percentage (.500). 

On the hill, Jack Collins pitched 4.1 innings of relief without allowing an earned run and struck out six. Collins ranks third in the country in ERA (0.42). Freshman reliever Justin Rosner pitched 3.1 hitless and scoreless innings in Game 2 against Albany, lowering his season ERA to 4.22. 

Binghamton is third in the America East in team pitching (4.20) and fielding (.973) and sixth in hitting (.249).    

NJIT joined the America East last July, making the move from the ASUN conference. The Highlanders were picked to finish sixth (of 8) this season after going 17-27-1 (7-17 in ASUN) in their last full season in 2019. The team is led by ASUN all-conference outfielder Julio Marcano (.313, 4 HR, 18 RBI). Sophomore second baseman Daniel Helfgott is hitting a team-best .383 with 13 RBI. The Highlanders rank third in the America East in hitting (.256), fifth in pitching (5.76) and eighth in fielding (.940, nearly 2 errors per game). 

The Highlanders are coming off a home series where they dropped three of four to Maine. Before that, they lost three of four each to Albany and Hartford but took three of four at UMass Lowell. 

Binghamton leads the all-time series 15-2, though the teams haven't played since 2014 - a 10-0 Bearcats win in Newark. Between 2007 and 2009, BU won 14 of 16 head-to-head games. This will be BU's first series against an opponent within its division, as the America East has been split into two divisions during the COVID-influenced 2021 season. The final six series' of the regular season will be of utmost importance as the divisional teams jockey for a top-two playoff position. The Bearcats and Highlanders currently sit third and fourth, respectively, in the Division "B" standings behind Stony Brook and UMBC.   

Weekend Matchups
Saturday, April 17 - noon (DH)
Game 1 (7 inn.): LHP Thomas Babalis (B) (0-3, 4.86 ERA) vs. RHP Tyler Stafflinger (NJIT) (1-4, 5.93 ERA) | Live Stats | Video
Game 2 (9 inn.): RHP Ryan Bryggman (B) (0-1, 6.62 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Fischer (NJIT) (2-1, 3.67 ERA) | Live Stats | Video 

Sunday, April 18 - noon (DH)
Game 1 (7 inn.): RHP Jack Collins (B) (2-0, 0.42 ERA) vs. LHP Grant Vurpillat (NJIT) (0-4, 7.11 ERA) | Live Stats | Video
Game 2 (9 inn.): RHP Josh Kopcza (B) (0-1, 1.64 ERA) vs. RHP Jared Kacso (NJIT) (1-2, 6.28 ERA) | Live Stats | Video