VESTAL, N.Y. - Visiting Maine (4-11, 1-0 America East) hit three home runs, built a 10-0 lead and held off a late Binghamton (3-11, 0-1 AE) charge in an 11-7 win Friday afternoon at the Bearcats Baseball Stadium. The game was the conference opener for both teams and drew 1,138 fans for the first game played in the new stadium complex.

The Bearcats outhit the Black Bears 10-9 but dug too deep a hole after Maine scored two runs in the first, three in the second, one in the fourth and four in the fifth. Binghamton outscored Maine 7-1 the rest of the way but the damage was done.

Junior catcher Connor Aoki went 2-for-5 with a double, home run and four RBI. Freshman clean-up hitter Evin Sullivan also had two hits. On the hill, junior reliever Dom DiRado went 3.2 middle innings and limited the Black Bears to two hits and one run. DiRado struck out three in his longest collegiate stint. 

In BU's 3-run sixth inning, freshman third baseman Devan Bade hit a 1-out single. Aoki followed with a two-run blast over the wall in left field. Sulivan then ripped a double to the wall in center and scored one batter later when a ground ball was thrown away by a Maine infielder. 

The Bearcats produced four runs on four hits in the ninth. Junior second baseman Cavan Tully (.333) delivered an RBI single and two batters later, Aoki sent a blast high off the wall in center field to score two more and pad his season RBI total to a team-best nine. 

The teams will continue the weekend series with an 11 a.m. start on Saturday. The game was moved up two hours in an attempt to beat the rain forecast to arrive in the afternoon.