ORONO, Maine - Surging Binghamton baseball delivered the final blow in a back-and-forth game and advanced to the America East championship round with an 8-5 win over fourth-seeded UMass Lowell Friday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond. With the gritty win, the second-seeded Bearcats move to 2-0 in the tournament and are within one victory of claiming the program's fifth conference title.

Binghamton, winners of four in a row and five of their last six, will face UMass Lowell, which emerged out of Friday night's elimination game. Binghamton will have two chances to win one more game on Saturday in the double-elimination format. UMass Lowell would have to beat the Bearcats twice to capture the crown. The America East champion gains an automatic berth into the 64-team NCAA Championship field, which be revealed on Monday. 

This game was a see-saw affair with the teams trading runs throughout. The River Hawks took the lead three times with single runs in the second, third and fifth innings, only to have the Bearcats respond with a tying run each time. Tied 3-3, BU took its first lead, 5-3, with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, only to see UML tie it back up with two in the top of the seventh. 

But in the bottom of the seventh, BU took the lead for good with two runs on three hits. With one out, freshman third baseman Devan Bade dropped down a perfect bunt single. Sophomore first baseman Andrew Tan followed with a hard single to left, putting runners on first and second. Senior shortstop Jake Evans then lashed an RBI single to right center, plating Bade with the go-ahead run, 6-5. With the single, Evans extended his hit streak to 22 games - breaking the school record of 21 set by Joe Charron in 2010. Then with runners on first and third, graduate pinch-hitter Garrett Matheny perfectly executed a squeeze bunt, scoring Tan to make it 7-5.

Junior closer Jack Collins (W, 3-3), who pitched the final 2.2 scoreless innings, worked out of a jam in the top of the eighth. After a leadoff double, Collins locked down with a groundout, pop-out and routine fly. 

In the bottom of the eighth, freshman second baseman Nick Roselli (2-for-4, 2 RBI) provided an insurance run when he ripped a 2-0 pitch over the right field wall for a solo home run. The one-out shot was Roselli's fourth of the season and finished the scoring. A strikeout and two groundouts in the UML ninth gave way to celebration.

"It was a great effort by our kids all the way around and a really nice win," head coach Tim Sinicki said. "To have the resiliency throughout the game and then get the tack-on run in the eighth was big. We try to take care of the things we can control ... so we will keep that approach tomorrow. I like the position we are in, but we won't take anything for granted." 

Roselli, Tan and freshman center fielder Logan Haskell had two hits and two RBI apiece. Haskell hit a solo home run, his second of the season, to tie the game in the bottom of the third. He took a 2-2 pitch over the wall in right center. Junior left fielder Cavan Tully added two hits, including a bunt single in the sixth that helped set up BU's two-run uprising. In that sixth inning, Evans drew a one-out walk and senior right fielder Colin Mason followed with a perfect hit-and-run single through the right side. Tully's single loaded the bases and Haskell drew a walk to put BU ahead 4-3. Roselli then made it 5-3 with an RBI groundout. 

In the top of the sixth, the Bearcats turned a key double play to squash a UML threat. A leadoff single and one-out walk put runners on first and second before Evans, Roselli and Tan completed a 6-4-3 double play.  

The Bearcats and UMass Lowell will play the first championship game at 1 p.m. on Saturday, although projected rain in the forecast may alter the schedule. If a second game is necessary, it would be played immediately after the first. Sunday is also available to complete the tournament.