HOUSTON, Texas - Host Houston (3-0) stretched a 2-0 lead with five runs in the eighth and defeated visiting Binghamton baseball (0-3) 7-0 in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Schroeder Park. 

Thanks to some strong work on the mound, BU put up five scoreless frames and brought the tying run to the plate in the top of the eighth inning. But after keeping BU off the board, the Cougars capitalized on three home runs and four unearned runs in the bottom of the inning to close out the scoring.

Six BU pitchers combined for 14 strikeouts and held Houston in check on eight hits and three earned runs. Senior starter Nelson Berkwich had a solid BU debut, going 4.0 innings and posting six strikeouts against just one walk. The left-hander allowed three hits and two earned runs as Houston scored single runs in the first and third innings. Berkwich and relievers Chris Sleeper and Hayden Tarsia then produced four straight scoreless innings, retiring 12 of 14 hitters during that stretch. Sleeper fanned three in his inning of work. Freshman Jackson Mitchell then struck out the first four Houston hitters he faced and added a fifth strikeout over his 1.2 innings.

On the weekend, BU's pitching staff posted a solid 5.63 ERA and 24 strikeouts against the Big 12 member Cougars. 

The Bearcats collected four hits and stranded four for the game. Junior third baseman Devan Bade went 2-for-4 to finish the weekend 4-for-11 (.364). 

Binghamton next travels to Greensboro, N.C. for a weekend set at UNC Greensboro.