VESTAL, N.Y. - In a title game battle between the defending champions and the regular season champs, top-seeded Maine (32-19) hit four home runs and toppled third-seeded Binghamton baseball (29-23) 6-1 Saturday afternoon in front of 1,085 fans at the Bearcats Baseball Complex. The Black Bears will carry the America East automatic bid into the NCAA Regionals. 

Playing their fifth tournament game in four days, BU surrendered runs in each of the first four innings and couldn't rally. Binghamton was kept off the board until the ninth when senior first baseman Kevin Gsell belted a solo home run - his eighth of the season. Gsell was one of three Bearcats to be selected to the All-Championship team after collecting nine hits and eight RBIs in the tournament. Joining him were senior pitcher Thomas Babalis, who worked 6.0 scoreless innings in BU's opening-game win over NJIT, and sophomore catcher Evin Sullivan, who contributed eight hits, three home runs and nine RBI in the tournament.

After taxing its pitching rotation in the previous four games, BU was up against the odds with the powerful Black Bears lineup and Maine scored runs in the first, second, third and fourth innings to take command early. Meanwhile, a surging BU offense that had averaged 8+ runs in the tournament was held in check over eight scoreless frames before the Gsell home run. 

Binghamton hit several balls to the warning track early, including a deep shot by senior left fielder Cavan Tully to wall in dead center that would've tied the game in the third. The Bearcats stranded runners in three of the first five innings. 

Graduate reliever Tommy Snyder was BU's third pitcher and worked the final 4.0 innings. He allowed just two hits and one run, along the way extending his season consecutive shutout innings streak to 17 innings, which ranks as the fifth-longest in program history. 

Despite nursing a leg injury, junior center fielder Tommy Reifler collected a hit to finish the season with a team-high .371 average. Gsell (72 hits) and sophomore second baseman Nick Roselli (70 hits, 61 RBI) also finished up excellent seasons at the plate.    

NOTE
Under 31-year head coach Tim Sinicki, the 2023 team was BU's third team to reach the America East finals in the last four years. The Bearcats were runnersup in 2019 and won the title last spring.