VESTAL, N.Y. – The Binghamton baseball team took a 4-0 lead into the eighth inning against Bryant on Saturday, but the Bulldogs ultimately prevailed 12-4 at the Bearcats Baseball Complex.
 
Starting pitcher Hayden Tarsia had the strongest performance of his career for the Bearcats (14-16, 5-6 America East), allowing no runs on two hits through six innings of work, striking out five batters along the way. His six innings are the most he has pitched in a game during his time at Binghamton.
 
Clay Robbins held his own on the mound for Bryant (14-15-1, 4-4 America East), keeping the Bearcats off the scoreboard through the first four innings. In the fifth, Binghamton finally broke through when Matt Bolton hit a single through the left side to bring home Todd Abraham from second and put the Bearcats up 1-0. The RBI single ultimately knocked Robbins out of the game.
 
Binghamton carried its momentum into the sixth inning. With runners on second and third, Freddy Forgione first brought home Devan Bade with an RBI groundout to extend the Bearcat lead to 2-0. With Evin Sullivan having moved to third on the groundout, Zack Kent drove him in with an RBI single to right field to make it 3-0. Kent then took two bases on a wild pitch to set himself up at third base. Eventually, Mike Stellrecht sent him on his way home with a sacrifice fly to center field, giving the Bearcats a 4-0 advantage.
 
Ben Griffith stepped in for Tarsia in the seventh and pitched a one-two-three inning for Binghamton. But when the redshirt freshman took the mound for the eighth, the momentum started to swing towards Bryant.
 
The Bulldogs got their first two hitters on base to knock Griffith out of the game. Chris Sleeper entered the game looking to keep the Bearcats ahead. But Bryant kept the rally going, hitting two doubles and a single to tie the game at four. After Jackson Mitchell went in for Sleeper, the Bulldogs brought in two more runs off a double from Gavin Noriega and a wild pitch to bring their lead up to 6-4.
 
Bryant followed that surge with another six runs in the ninth inning off Mitchell and Dan McAliney. Binghamton was unable to respond, as Bryant took the second game of the series.
 
The final game of this series begins on Sunday at 1 p.m., at the Bearcats Baseball Complex.
 
UHS Sports Medicine is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats' baseball.