ORONO, Maine - Binghamton baseball is set to open its 2025 postseason when the third-seeded Bearcats (25-23) face sixth-seeded UMBC (18-27) in an elimination game of the Northeast Delta Dental America East Baseball Championship at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Mahaney Diamond. 

The six-team tournament features a pair of elimination games Wednesday, with the winners advancing to the traditional four-team, double-elimination tournament, which continues on Thursday. With a win over UMBC, the Bearcats would advance to face No. 2 NJIT at 3 p.m. Thursday. Regular-season champion Bryant is the top seed and defending champion.

Sophomore all-conference starter Hayden Tarsia (4-2, 4.34 ERA) gets the start for the Bearcats. Tarsia was a second team selection and ranks fourth in the conference in ERA and opponents are hitting just .258 off him. 

UMBC counters with senior first team all-conference reliever Nick Remy (7-2, 3.00), who will make just his third start of the season. The Retrievers dropped eight of their last nine to slip down to the No. 6 seed. But UMBC took two of three from the Bearcats when the teams met in Baltimore in early April. Binghamton leads the all-time series 61-33, but UMBC has won seven of the last 10 head-to-head. 

BINGHAMTON RETURNS TO TOURNEY FOR 16th TIME IN 20 YEARS
Five-time champion Binghamton returns to the championship for the 16th time in the last 19 years. The Bearcats earned the No. 3 seed. Binghamton has advanced to the championship round three times in the last five years with runnerup finishes in 2019 and 2023 and a title in 2022.

THIRD YEAR WITH NEW TOURNAMENT FORMAT
For the third year, the America East tournament format will feature six teams but the first two games (4-vs-5 and 3-vs-6) will be single-elimination games. Then the remaining four teams will take part in the traditional double-elimination format.

BEARCATS VS. TOURNAMENT FIELD
Binghamton is 12-9 vs. the tournament field this season. The Bearcats are 3-0 vs. NJIT, 4-2 vs. both Maine and UAlbany, 1-2 vs. UMBC and 0-3 vs. Bryant.  

BACK IN THE 3-6 GAME AGAIN
For the second straight year, the Bearcats will play in the 3-6 first-round game. As the No. 6 seed last year, BU lost to No. 3 NJIT 5-2. This year the Bearcats have the No. 3 seed.          

ELEVEN TITLES IN 18 YEARS
Binghamton has won a combined 11 America East regular season and tournament titles in the last 18 years - the most of any team in the conference during that span. The Bearcats won four straight regular season crown between 2007-10 and then won back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. The team's four postseason tournament titles came in 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2022.  

LAST TIME IN ORONO FOR TOURNEY WAS 2022
After back-to-back years in Binghamton, the 2025 America East tournament returns to Orono, Maine. The last time the Black Bears hosted the championship, the Bearcats were crowned kings. As the two seed in 2022, Binghamton rolled to wins over No. 3 NJIT (20-5) and No. 4 UMass Lowell (8-4, 7-1) to go 3-0 and win the program's fifth title.  .

SIXTH TIME AS THE NO. 3 SEED
Binghamton is the No. 3 seed for the second time in three years (2023) and sixth time overall. It's the most common seed for the Bearcats in their 16 years of tournament play. Binghamton is 11-9 all-time as the No. 3 seed. They won the 2014 title as the No. 3 seed and were runnersup as the No. 3 in both 2019 and 2023, losing to the top seed in both finals.  

BEARCATS BOAST MOST POTENT OFFENSIVE LINEUP IN YEARS
Binghamton ranks as one of the top offensive teams in the conference in 2025, leading the league in batting average and on-base percentage and ranking second in home runs, RBI and slugging. The Bearcats' first five hitters are all batting above .310 and all five have 50 or more hits, including four with 60+. That's the same number of 60+ hitters as the five other tournament teams combined (4). The America East top-10 in individual batting has four Bearcats. Binghamton also set a school record with 60 home runs this spring with six players collecting five or more HR. Four of the league's top-10 home run hitters are from Binghamton.  

BEARCATS BEST FIELDING TEAM FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
Binghamton leads the league in fielding for the third consecutive season, posting a .978 regular season mark. That figure is close to the school record of .980, set by the 2023 team. NJIT is in second place at .974.

SIX ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS — FIVE ON FIRST TEAM
Led by its first five hitters in the lineup, who each were named first team all-conference, the Bearcats had six all-conference selections, two All-Rookie pics and two on the All-Academic Team. First team selections were DH Evin Sullivan (3x first team), 3B Devan Bade (2x first team), Utility Zach Rogacki, 1B Freddy Forgione and OF Matt Bolton. Starting pitcher Hayden Tarsia was named to the second team. Joining Bolton on the All-Rookie team was pitcher Brady Bouchard. Bade and Rogacki made the All-Academic Team.  

FIRST FIVE HITTERS ALL ON FIRST TEAM
The Bearcats' lineup gained a unique distinction when the first five hitters all were named first team all-conference. From freshman leadoff hitter Matt Bolton to No. 5 hitter, graduate 1B Freddy Forgione, with the senior 2-3-4 trio of Zach Rogacki, Devan Bade and Evin Sullivan in-between, made Binghamton the first team in 14 years (2011 Stony Brook) to have its first five hitters all make the first team.  

WHO'S TURN TO WIN TITLE??
Since the Bearcats won three America East titles in a four-year span (2013-16), the conference has seen a different team win it in each of the last SEVEN years. UMBC (2017), Hartford (2018), Stony Brook (2019), NJIT (2021), Binghamton (2022), Maine (2023) and Bryant (2024). That leaves UAlbany as the only team "eligible" to win the title and keep the streak going. The Bearcats are the last team to repeat (2013, 2014).  

TOP TWO SEEDS HISTORICALLY "OWN" TOURNEY
It's tough sledding for any teams NOT No. 1 or No. 2 in the America East Championship. One of the top two seeds has claimed each of the last nine tournaments and 16 of the 21 that have been played since Binghamton joined the America East in 2002. The LAST non-top-two seed to win it all was third-seeded Binghamton in 2014. The No. 3 seed has won four titles and the No. 4 seed have won it twice. The top seed has won the last two titles (No. 1 Bryant in 2024 and No. 1 Maine in 2023). Binghamton won it as the No. 2 seed in 2022.  

HOST ROLE DOESN'T ALWAYS REAP REWARDS
Hosting the event rarely translates into winning the title. The last six hosts came up short, including Binghamton last year. Accepting that the tournament was played at neutral locations for seven years, the host school has only won it three times in 22 years — the last being Stony Brook in 2012. The other host champions were Maine in 2002 and Binghamton in 2009.

LOPSIDED REGULAR SEASON GAMES AGAINST UMBC
Binghamton's first-round game vs. UMBC will be the fourth meeting of the season and the first three were lopsided games. In Baltimore on April 4-6, UMBC won 19-9 and 11-6 before the Bearcats captured the finale 14-1. While the total runs were near-even with UMBC holding a 31-29 edge, two of the three games were stopped after seven innings due to the 10-run rule. The Retrievers belted eight home runs in the first two games before Binghamton won Game 3 by scoring in 6 of 7 innings.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY AGAINST UMBC
Binghamton is 1-1 all-time vs. UMBC in the America East Tournament, with both games taking place in the 2023 tourney at Binghamton. There, No. 2 UMBC beat No. 3 Binghamton 7-4 in a second-round game before the Bearcats turned the tables and knocked out UMBC 7-1 one day later.

TOURNAMENT HISTORY AGAINST NJIT
With a first-round win over UMBC, the Bearcats would face No. 2 NJIT in the second round. It would be the fourth straight year the teams would meet in the tournament, with Binghamton holding a 2-1 edge. The teams met April 18-20 in Vestal and the Bearcats swept the series, though two of the wins were tight, 1-run affairs.

BOLTON WITH BIG ROOKIE CAMPAIGN
Freshman center fielder Matt Bolton has made a splash in his inaugural collegiate season. He became the only freshman position player named first team all-conference and leads the entire conference with 66 hits. His candidacy for Rookie of the Year was derailed by Bryant's No. 1 starting pitcher (Michael Belcher), raising the position-player-vs-pitcher impact debate.  

BADE IS A BOSS
Senior third baseman Devan Bade is closing out a stellar four-year career that finds him among the program's all-time leaders in hits, home runs and RBI. He has played 188 career games and ranks fifth in career hits (220) and fourth in both RBI (135) and HR (25).  

ROAMING ROGACKI
Versatile senior Zach Rogacki has played four positions for the Bearcats this season. He has been catcher (25 games), DH (6), LF (4) and RF (13). A superb catcher and quick, rangy outfielder, Rogacki has also been one of the league's top hitters. He was a first team "utility" all-conference selection and ranks in the AE top-5 in average, hits, slugging and OPS.  

SINICKI ONE OF NATION'S LONGEST TENURED COACHES
Head coach Tim Sinicki is closing out his 33rd season and he has amassed 700+ wins. A six-time America East Coach of the Year (2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017), Sinicki is the longest-tenured coach in Binghamton University history and owns the third-longest tenure at one school among any current NCAA Division I baseball coaches. Sinicki's teams have captured five America East titles since 2009 and have advanced to the America East championship round three times in the last five years, including a title in 2022 and a runnerup showing in 2023.

WHO'S HOT??
• Graduate 1B Freddy Forgione is hitting .388 (33-for-85) with nine HR and 24 RBI in his last 23 games
• Freshman CF Matt Bolton is hitting .370 (60-162) in his last 39 games
• Senior RF Zach Rogacki is hitting .377 (55-146) in his last 40 games
• Senior LF Logan Haskell is hitting .474 (9-19) with seven RBI in his last six games and belted a walkoff 3-run home run in Binghamton's wild 15-14 comeback win over UAlbany last Friday in Vestal (trailed 13-5 after 6 inn.)

SULLIVAN LOOKS TO BOOKEND CAREER WITH TITLES AT MAHANEY
Senior catcher Evin Sullivan returns to Mahaney Diamond, where he helped lead the Bearcats to the 2022 conference title as a freshman. Sullivan went 6-for-11 with seven RBI in Binghamton's three-game sweep to the crown and was named to the All-Tournament Team. In his rookie campaign, Sullivan hit .365 with team-highs of 70 hits, 15 doubles, 23 extra-base hits and 42 RBI. He was the America East and ECAC Rookie of the Year and a Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American. Sullivan will graduate among the program's all-time top-10 in nearly every offensive category.

TOP TWO STARTING PITCHERS GO DOWN EARLY
Binghamton had to scramble early on when its top two starting pitchers went down with season-ending injuries. Sophomore No. 1 Ryan Bates was injured during his start in the Feb. 14 opener. Junior No. 2 Colin Rhein was shut down in late March after making six starts. The two injuries put added pressure on a pitching staff that consists of 10 underclassmen, including six freshmen. The conference weekend rotation was juggled and the Bearcats have had three different Game 1 weekend starters (Packard, Bouchard, Tarsia) and five different overall starters in conference play (above three plus Luther, Rhein).  

BINGHAMTON PLAYERS IN PRO RANKS
On the diamond, the baseball program has produced two MLB players – Scott Diamond '11 and Murphy Smith. Diamond was the 2012 Minnesota Twins Pitcher of the Year and played for parts of four seasons with the Twins and Blue Jays. He finished his professional career in South Korea. Smith pitched 10 seasons in the minor leagues and was a three-time Double-A all-star who earned a call-up to the Blue Jays in 2018. He has finished his professional career. Former America East 2019 Pitcher of the Year Ben Anderson is currently playing with the Frisco Roughriders, the Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Texas picked Anderson in the 13th round of the 2019 Draft after  Drafted by Texas in 13th round (385th overall) of MLB Amateur Draft after averaging 11.05 strikeouts per nine innings, the highest rate in 30-year history of America East. Nick Roselli, drafted by the New York Mets in the 11th round of the 2024 Draft, is currently with St. Lucie in the Florida State League.