VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball begins the second half of conference play when the Bearcats (10-21, 6-9 America East) travel to New Jersey to face reigning champion NJIT (16-15, 10-5 AE). The teams will play a three-game weekend set at Jim Hynes Stadium on the campus of Kean College, beginning with a 6 p.m. first pitch on Friday.

The Bearcats have won their last two conference series' to begin to climb upwards after a 2-7 start. Last weekend, BU won two of three against Stony Brook. In the team's last outing on Wednesday, the Bearcats were overtaken by Cornell in 10 innings 10-9. 

Junior left fielder Cavan Tully leads the team with a .333 average. Freshman catcher/DH Evin Sullivan is hitting .308 with a team-high nine doubles and 18 RBI. Freshman center fielder Logan Haskell is hitting .303 and classmate Nick Roselli is at .300 with four home runs and 14 RBI. Three of the team's top four hitters are freshmen. Junior catcher Connor Aoki has team-highs of seven home runs and 20 RBI. 

On the mound, relievers Jack Collins (2.10 ERA, 4 saves) and Justin Rosner (4.12 ERA) lead the team in ERA. 

NJIT sits atop the Division "B" standings with a 10-5 mark. They swept a three-game set from Albany and won two of three against Hartford, UMass Lowell and most recently, UMBC. On Wednesday, the Highlanders lost a non-conference game at Monmouth, 12-8. The team is hitting .267 (fourth in AE) and has a 6.06 ERA, best in the conference. The all-conference Marcano brothers (David and Julio) lead a team that captured the America East title last season and won a game at the NCAA Regional. David Marcano is third in the AE in average (.368) and Julio has 14 doubles, second in the AE. Reigning AE Rookie of the Year Albert Choi is one of five all-conference players back for the Highlanders.

Binghamton leads the all-time head-to-head series 19-6, though most of those wins came before NJIT joined the America East last year. The teams split eight games last season, with each team winning three of four at home.      

Projected Weekend Matchups
Friday, April 22 - 6 p.m. 
LHP Thomas Babalis (BU) (2-4, 4.59 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Fischer (6-2, 3.81 ERA) | America East TV | Live Stats

Saturday, April 23 - 1 p.m. 
RHP Gabe Driscoll (BU) (2-0, 5.05 ERA) vs. LHP Jake Rappaport (1-3, 7.31 ERA) | America East TV | Live Stats

Sunday, April 24 - noon
RHP Ryan Bryggman (BU) (3-3, 4.81 ERA) vs. LHP Aidan Kidd (0-2, 7.53 ERA) | America East TV | Live Stats