TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Binghamton baseball (3-9) brought the tying run to the plate in each of the last three innings but host Alabama (12-5) held on for a 5-3 win in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. 

The Bearcats outscored their SEC hosts from the second inning on but couldn't complete the comeback. Binghamton put runners on base in seven of nine innings and threatened to tie game in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings.  

Senior shortstop Jake Evans and freshman DH Evin Sullivan each went 2-for-4 with an RBI. 

Alabama jumped out to another quick lead with three runs in the first. The Crimson Tide scored a combined 11 runs in the first inning during the weekend series. But BU battled back with single runs in the second and third. Alabama scored twice in the sixth to build a 5-2 cushion before BU countered with its final run in the seventh. 

In the seventh, Evans led off with a single and with two out, sophomore left fielder Tommy Reifler drew a walk. Sullivan followed with an RBI double to make it 5-3 with the tying run at second. But a strikeout ended the threat. In the eighth, freshman second baseman Nick Roselli walked with one out to bring the tying run to the plate. But back-to-back strikeouts on full-count pitches closed the inning. The Bearcats had one more chance in the ninth after a leadoff walk again brought the tying run to the plate. But a pickoff and strikeout ended it. 

The pitching tandem of junior Ryan Bryggman and Gabe Driscoll kept BU in the game with gutsy performances. Bryggman shook off the first inning damage and put up three straight scoreless frames. He left the bases loaded in the bottom of the third with an eight-pitch strikeout. Driscoll covered the final 3.2 innings, struck out a pair and also put up three scoreless frames. 

In the second inning, Evans came through with a 2-out RBI single up the middle to score sophomore first baseman Andrew Tan, who led off with a walk. 

In the third, Tan made it 3-2 when his 1-out sacrifice fly scored Reifler, who opened the inning with a walk and moved along on a Bama infield error.

Alabama gained two pivotal runs in the sixth, courtesy of two infield singles and a double. 

In a schedule change, Binghamton will head to Starkville to face reigning NCAA champion Mississippi State at 7 p.m. (ET) Monday. The teams moved up the game a day with bad weather expected on Tuesday. The Bulldogs went 50-18 and captured the national title with wins over Vanderbilt last June in Omaha. It will be the second time the Bearcats have faced the reigning NCAA champions and first since battling LSU in 2010.