BALTIMORE, Md. - Binghamton baseball (9-9, 9-9 America East) compiled 23 hits and 17 runs but had to settle for a twinbill split with host UMBC (13-13, 8-13 AE) Friday afternoon at Alumni Field. The Bearcats won the opener 8-3 before dropping the nightcap in a 15-9 slugfest. The teams combined for nine home runs at the hitter-friendly ballpark. 

In the seven-inning opener, BU snapped a 3-3 tie with two runs in the fifth and then added three more insurance runs in the seventh. That was enough for sophomore starter Thomas Babalis (W, 2-3), who tossed a complete-game four-hitter with seven strikeouts. 

Senior right fielder Daniel Franchi led a nine-hit BU attack with a 2-for-3, 3-RBI performance. He got the Bearcats off to a quick start with a two-run home run in the first inning. After sophomore left fielder Tommy Reifler opened the game with a single, Franchi jumped on a pitch and sent it over the wall in left field for his first home run of the season. 

UMBC tied it with a two-run shot of their own in the bottom of the first and then the Retrievers took a 3-2 lead with a solo home run in the third. Both of UMBC's home runs came with two out.

But BU rallied in the fourth, tying the game on a two-out, solo home run from junior first baseman Kevin Gsell. Then in the fifth, the Bearcats took the lead for good. Sophomore DH Colin Mason delivered an RBI single - his first collegiate run driven in - and two batters later, Franchi added a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3. 

Babalis escaped damage in the sixth with an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play before Binghamton tacked on two final runs in the seventh. Senior second baseman Alex Baratta (2-for-4, RBI) hit a bases-loaded RBI single and senior third baseman Justin Drpich added a bases-loaded, two-run single to close out the scoring.  

In Game 2, BU held a 6-2 lead but UMBC did damage with a fifth-inning grand slam and then after the Bearcats reclaimed the lead in the sixth, the Retrievers exploded for eight runs over their final two innings to pull away and gain the split. UMBC belted three more home runs, including a 3-run shot in the eighth. 

The Bearcats also used the long ball - Gsell ripped a 3-run shot in the fourth inning and junior center fielder Shane Marshall hit a solo shot to tie the game in the sixth. After Marshall tied the score, junior shortstop Jake Evans and sophomore DH Cavan Tully singled and Reifler executed a safety squeeze sac bunt to give BU an 8-7 lead. But the wheels came off in the bottom of the seventh when UMBC scored four runs on five hits - all with two out. The 3-run home run in the eighth added to the final margin.

Gsell drove in four runs to complete his strong day. Marshall went 5-for-5 with 2 RBI and in the process, added his name to the shared school record for hits in a game - a list that also includes teammate Franchi). Drpich added two hits and an RBI and BU outhit UMBC 14-13. 

The teams will look to complete the four-game set with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.