VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (9-10, 0-1 America East) outhit visiting Maine but left left nine stranded and saw a ninth-inning rally cut short in a 5-2 loss to the Black Bears (5-15, 1-0 AE) Friday afternoon at brisk Bearcats Baseball Complex.

The conference opener was played in temperatures below 40 degrees with strong wind gusts and an equally vacillating strike zone.

Down 5-2 in the ninth, Binghamton brought the tying run to the plate after junior second baseman Zack Kent led off with a double and freshman right fielder Sam Miller worked a 1-out walk. But back-to-back strikeouts ended the threat and the game. Four straight Bearcats worked a 3-2 count in the ninth but three were set down on strikes.

Binghamton condensed its scoring to the third inning, when it trimmed a 4-0 deficit in half. Miller singled with one out, moved to second on a wild pitch and went to third on a sharp single to center by classmate Matt Bolton. Senior left fielder Logan Haskell then plated Miller with a sacrifice fly to center. After a Bolton stolen base, senior third baseman Devan Bade lashed an RBI single to right field for his 100th career RBI.

The Bearcats threatened to pull closer in the fourth when senior catcher Zach Rogacki walked with one out and Kent singled to put the tying run on base. But a strikeout and groundout left them stranded.

Bade went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Kent also collected two hits. The Bearcats outhit Maine 8-7 but the Black Bears used three extra-base hits and three hit batters to help score early and take control. Maine tallied once in the first, twice in the second and once more in the third. The Black Bears added an insurance run in the sixth. 

Freshman reliever Brady Bouchard pitched 3.2 scoreless innings to finish the game. He allowed just two hits.  

The game was a matchup of the 2022 and 2023 America East champions, who were picked to finish second (Binghamton) and third (Maine) in this spring's preseason poll. The teams close out the series with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at noon.