VESTAL, N.Y. - Sophomore catcher
Evin Sullivan belted two home runs and drove in seven runs and senior ace
Thomas Babalis worked 6.0 shutout relief innings to lift third-seeded Binghamton baseball (27-21) to a come-from-behind 14-6 win over sixth-seeded NJIT in an America East tournament first-round elimination game Wednesday night at the Bearcats Baseball Complex.
With the win, BU advances to the four-team double-elimination portion of the tournament. The Bearcats will next face No. 2 UMBC (29-25) at 3 p.m. Thursday.
In an action-packed game featuring two all-conference starting pitchers, it was the offenses that carried the day in the first inning. NJIT jumped ahead 4-0 thanks to a grand slam. But the Bearcats countered by batting around in the bottom of the first. They scored seven runs on six hits with the big blow being a two-out grand slam by freshman shortstop
Mike Stellrecht.
After the Highlanders plated two more runs in the third to make it a 7-6 BU lead, 31-year head coach
Tim Sinicki turned to No. 1 starter and five-year veteran Babalis (W, 4-4), who was masterful in his first relief appearance since his freshman season in 2019. Babalis worked the final 6.0 shutout innings and allowed just two hits with eight strikeouts.
Binghamton, meanwhile, continued its offensive onslaught, scoring once in the fourth, twice in the seventh and four closing runs in the eighth.
Sullivan enjoyed a huge night, going 3-for-5 with a two-run home run in the seventh and a grand slam in the eighth - his second and third home runs of the season. His seven RBIs are a Bearcats' postseason record. Senior first baseman
Kevin Gsell went 3-for-4 with an RBI, senior left fielder
Cavan Tully went 3-for-5 and the 2-3 hitter tandem of junior center fielder
Tommy Reifler and sophomore second baseman
Nick Roselli each went 2-for-4 with an RBI. With his two hits, Roselli extended his hit streak to 16 games and also reached the 60-RBI mark for the season.
After belting his grand slam in the first inning, Stellrecht made a highlight-reel fielding play behind second base for the first out of the second inning. It was one of several deft defensive plays the Bearcats made in the game. Another came in the top of the third inning when NJIT sent a deep ball to the wall in left center. Reifler leaped and deflected it down, where Tully was backing the play up. Tully collected the ball before it hit the ground for the out. Then in the eighth inning with BU still clinging to a 10-6 lead, Babalis induced a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat and the inning.
The Bearcats collected 15 hits and hit two grand slams for the first time in postseason history. Binghamton also continued its offensive outburst against NJIT in the America East tournament. Last year, BU rolled to a 20-5 win over the Highlanders in a winners' bracket game en route to BU's fifth conference crown.
NOTE
The grand slams by Stellrecht and Sullivan are BU's first postseason slams since Jason Agresti belted a walk-off grand slam to beat Hartford in 2016.
