VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (18-26, 7-12 America East) nearly pulled off a ninth-inning rally but a bases-loaded blast to the wall in center field was caught with a dive, preserving a 4-3 win for visiting UMBC (23-20, 12-7 AE) Friday night at rainy Bearcats Baseball Stadium. 

The Bearcats trailed 4-1 in the ninth after being limited to four hits over eight innings. But Binghamton loaded the bases on a single by junior catcher Zach Rogacki and a hit-by-pitch and walk combination. With two outs and the bases loaded, junior left fielder Logan Haskell lined a two-run single to center, making it 4-3. After an intentional walk to junior second baseman Nick Roselli re-loaded the bases, senior right fielder Mike Gunning, Binghamton's RBI leader came to the plate. Gunning mashed a 3-1 pitch toward the wall in dead center but the Retrievers outfielder made a diving catch to rob Gunning of a walk-off hit. 

The game began as a pitchers' duel with senior Gabe Driscoll and UMBC ace Luke Johnson trading clean innings. UMBC took advantage of a tough sequence in the third inning to jump ahead 2-0. Driscoll painted the corner on a 2-out, 2-strike pitch but it was called a ball and the hitter subsequently reached on an infield dribbler. The Retrievers then capitalized with a 2-run home run. 

Binghamton got on the board in the sixth when Roselli belted a one-out, solo home run to right field. It was his fourth of the season and made it 2-1. But after Driscoll departed in the sixth, UMBC struck for single runs in the eighth and ninth off Binghamton's bullpen to extend its lead and set up the bottom-of-the-ninth dramatics.

Driscoll went 5.0 innings and scattered three hits and two runs. He struck out six. Senior reliever John Lumpinski fanned four in his 2.1 innings. 

The teams continue their three-game set at 2 p.m. on Saturday.