ORONO, Maine - Graduate first baseman Freddy Forgione went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI and senior outfielder Logan Haskell delivered three hits and the go-ahead RBI in the eighth inning as Binghamton baseball (22-21, 10-9 America East) powered past home Maine (19-26, 12-10 AE) 9-4 in the series opener Friday afternoon at Mahaney Diamond.

The Bearcats racked up 17 hits and scored runs in each of the final four innings to move into a tie for third place in the America East standings, just 1.5 games behind the Black Bears for second place with five regular-season games remaining. Binghamton scored single runs in the first, third, sixth and seventh innings to build a 4-1 lead before Maine tied the game with three in the bottom of the seventh. 

With the score knotted 4-4 in the eighth, Binghamton pushed ahead with two runs. With one out, senior catcher Evin Sullivan singled up the middle and Forgione dropped in a single. With two outs, Haskell came through with an RBI single down the right field line, making it 5-4. Junior shortstop Mike Stellrecht followed with an RBI single to left center to put the Bearcats ahead 6-4. 

Sophomore reliever Conner Griffin then struck out a pair in the bottom of the eighth and with the tying run at the plate, induced a pop-up to close the inning. 

In the ninth, the Bearcats tacked on three more insurance runs. Freshman center fielder Matt Bolton led off with a home run - his eighth of the season. Four batters later, Forgione chopped a 2-run single over short for the final 9-4 margin. Sophomore closer Jake Dally worked a 1-2-3 ninth and struck out the final hitter to end it. 

Senior outfielder Zach Rogacki went 3-for-5 with a solo home run and in the process, raised his season average to .372 - third-highest in the conference. Bolton had two hits and two RBI and with the double and home run, ran his season hit count to 60. He is hitting .395 in conference play. Stellrecht and Sullivan had two hits and an RBI each.

Sophomore starter Hayden Tarsia contributed another strong start on the hill. He went 6.0 innings and limited the Black Bears to two runs on six hits. Tarsia struck out five and only walked one. 

The teams are scheduled to continue the series at 7 p.m. Saturday, following what is expected to be afternoon rain.