VESTAL, N.Y. - Already assured of a playoff spot but battling for a high seed, Binghamton baseball (17-27, 13-14 America East) ends its regular season with three games against UMBC (21-28, 10-17 AE). The teams will play Thursday and Friday nights at 6 p.m. and finish with a 1 p.m. game on Saturday at Alumni Field. 

One week away from the start of the six-team America East Championship in Orono, Maine, BU can still earn anywhere from the No. 2-6 seed. The Bearcats sit one game behind NJIT for the No. 2 position and are tied with UMass Lowell. The trio of teams seem likely to occupy the 2-4 seeds in some order, with the No. 2 seed earning an important Day 1 bye in the double-elimination format. 

Senior shortstop Jake Evans enters the final weekend on a tear at the plate. In the last month, Evans is hitting .450 during a 17-game hit streak that is the second-longest in program history (record of 21 set by Joe Charron in 2010). During that 17-game stretch, he has nine multi-hit games and nine RBI. His .349 season average ranks fourth in the conference and Evans is hitting .456 against America East pitching - tops among all hitters (by 32 points). 

Freshman catcher/DH Evin Sullivan, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, is hitting .318 with a team-high 30 RBI. Sullivan also leads the team with 18 multi-hit and eight multi-RBI games. Junior first baseman Connor Aoki has team-bests of 14 doubles and eight home runs and is hitting .364 in his last 16 games. 

The Bearcats grabbed the final game of the Stony Brook series last weekend, snapping a four-game losing stretch. 

UMBC won two of three at home against NJIT last weekend. The Retrievers rank fourth in the conference in hitting (.281), fifth in pitching (5.99 ERA) and seventh in fielding (.962). The team has a player of the year candidate in graduate second baseman and leadoff hitter Myles Nicholson, who leads the league in batting average (.387) and has 70 hits, 29 RBI and 29 stolen bases. 

Three weeks ago, BU took two of three from visiting UMBC, winning 6-1 and 6-4 before the Retrievers grabbed the finale 12-7. Binghamton leads the all-time series

Binghamton leads the all-time series 54-23. The teams split eight games last season, going 2-2 in both Vestal and Baltimore.   

Projected Weekend Matchups
Thursday, May 19 - 6 p.m. 
LHP Thomas Babalis (BU) (3-5, 4.24 ERA) vs. LHP Jayden Shertel (3-3, 4.76 ERA) | AE TV | Live Stats

Friday, May 20 - 6 p.m. 
RHP Gabe Driscoll (BU) (3-1, 5.01 ERA) vs. RHP Nick Remy (1-3, 6.21 ERA) | AE TV |  Live Stats

Saturday, May 21 - 1 p.m.
RHP Ryan Bryggman (BU) (4-5, 5.52 ERA) vs. RHP Luke Johnson (3-2, 3.69 ERA) | AE TV |  Live Stats