VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball looks to make a move in the standings when the Bearcats (15-17, 5-7 America East) host first-place NJIT (18-16, 7-2 AE) in a three-game weekend set. The teams will play at 6 p.m. Friday before finishing with afternoon games Saturday (noon) and Sunday (1 p.m.) at Bearcats Baseball Complex.

Halfway through the 24-game conference slate, Binghamton sits in a tie for fifth place, three games out of a top-2 position and the accompanying first-round tournament bye. The Bearcats posted an 8-5 non-conference win over Cornell on Tuesday but have dropped six of their last seven league games with an injury-adjusted pitching rotation. Binghamton has a .288 team batting average (1st in AE), 6.93 pitching ERA (5th) and a .977 fielding percentage (1st). 

Senior catcher Zach Rogacki (.364) and freshman center fielder Matt Bolton (.359) rank third and fourth, respectively, in the conference in hitting. Senior third baseman Devan Bade has a team-best 28 RBI, which ranks fourth in the America East. Binghamton has eight players with 10 or more RBIs. 

NJIT has a 1.5-game cushion on second-place Maine (8-4) in the standings. The Highlanders have series sweeps over UMBC and UAlbany but dropped two of three to Maine two weeks ago. The Highlanders are hitting .268 (5th), have a 5.20 ERA (1st) and a .971 team fielding percentage (2nd). NJIT was picked to finish tied for third in the conference preseason poll. 

Binghamton leads the all-time series, which began in 2008, 23-12. NJIT however, has won four of the last five. The teams split the six games during the regular season last year before the Highlanders and eliminated the host Bearcats from the America East Championship with a 5-2 win. Binghamton is 13-5 at home in the series.     
 
UHS Sports Medicine is the presenting sponsor of Bearcats' baseball.
 
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday, April 18 - 6 p.m.
RHP Hayden Tarsia (2-2, 6.03 ERA) vs. RHP Nate DeSchryver (1-3, 6.23 ERA) | ESPN+ | Live Stats
 
Saturday, April 19 – noon
LHP Vincent Luther (0-0, 4.91 ERA) vs. RHP MT Morrisey (4-3, 4.87 ERA) | ESPN+ | Live Stats
 
Sunday, April 20 - 1 p.m.
TBA vs. RHP Brandon Peterson (3-2, 5.80 ERA) | ESPN+ | Live Stats