VESTAL, N.Y. – Host and defending champion Binghamton baseball (28-22) staged an improbable late-inning rally to keep its season alive and advance to Day 3 of the America East Championship.

After losing to second-seeded UMBC 7-3 and seemingly on brink of elimination down three runs to UMass Lowell, BU plated eight runs in the seventh inning to rally past the River Hawks 10-5 Thursday night at the Bearcats Baseball Complex. Binghamton will now await the loser of the winner's bracket game between top-seeded Maine and UMBC and embark on another elimination game at 5 p.m. Friday. The Bearcats have won two of three tournament games, having opened their postseason with a 14-6 elimination win over NJIT on Wednesday. 

Against fifth-seeded UMass Lowell, BU trailed 5-2 and had been kept off the board in four straight innings (and five of six) before staging their eight-run barrage. In the deciding frame, BU batted around, sent 12 men to the plate and used six hits – two of which were home runs – to turn the tide and eliminate the River Hawks for the second straight season.

The first five batters all reached with the first blow coming off the hot bat of sophomore catcher Evin Sullivan (3-for-4, 2 RBI), who delivered his third home run of the tournament – a no-doubt two-run shot that brought BU to within one, 5-4. Junior right fielder Mike Gunning (2-for-4, 2-run HR) followed with a triple and came in with the tying run on an RBI double by sophomore third baseman Devan Bade (3-for-4, RBI). Two walks and four batters later, the River Hawks pitcher uncorked back-to-back bases-loaded wild pitches to put the Bearcats ahead 7-5. Then with two out and two on, senior first baseman Kevin Gsell capped the explosion with a three-run home run to left field.

Graduate reliever Tommy Snyder (W, 4-1) stymied the River Hawks over 4.2 scoreless innings to keep BU in the game. Snyder scattered two hits and struck out three to extend his shutout streak to 14.2 consecutive innings. Graduate closer Jack Collins came in for the final two innings and struck out five.

In its first game of the day against the second-seeded Retrievers, BU fell behind 7-0 after three innings and couldn't rally. UMBC plated two runs in the first and five in the second to account for all their scoring. Binghamton countered with single runs in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings but despite outhitting UML 9-8, BU couldn't collect the timely hit and stranded 10 runners.

Bade went 2-for-4 with two RBI and Gsell knocked in a run.

Senior starter Ryan Bryggman gutted out 6.0 innings and allowed three earned runs. He pitched three scoreless frames after the five-run third, when a two-out error led to three unearned runs.

The Bearcats put runners on in seven of nine innings and put their leadoff hitter on base five times but couldn't take advantage and were relegated to the loser's bracket and the evening elimination game.

Binghamton is now three wins away from a repeat championship but has a tough road with a taxed pitching rotation. The Bearcats will have to win their 5 p.m. elimination Friday and then deliver back-to-back wins in Saturday's championship series. The top three seeds are the only remaining teams in what began as a six-team tournament.   

NOTES
In three tournament games, Sullivan is 7-for-13 with three home runs and nine RBI ... Gsell is 6-for-11 with five RBI