VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (8-11, 3-3 America East) continued its offensive surge and earned the series win with a 14-10 victory over visiting UMass Lowell (8-11, 1-2 AE) on a rain-drenched Sunday at Bearcats Baseball Complex.
The barrage of runs gave Binghamton 35 runs in the three-game series, including back-to-back winning outings with 14+ runs. It was another lengthy game that saw 11 combined pitchers and included a 32-minute rain delay in the bottom of the second - right after the Bearcats shook off a 4-0 deficit with a seven-run uprising.
Sophomore second baseman
Sean Sweeney completed a stellar two-game performance in the starting lineup with three hits and three RBI. Sophomore catcher
Tommy Popoff had two hits and three RBI and sophomore right fielder
Braylen Gonzalez belted a 2-run home run - the first of his career. Every Bearcat starter had at least one hit and Binghamton again bunched their runs into just a handful of big innings.
Down 4-0 after UML hit a grand slam in the top of the first, Binghamton answered in a big way with a seven-spot in the bottom of the frame. The Bearcats then added two runs in the third, four in the fifth and a final run in the eighth. The River Hawks made things interesting with four unearned runs in the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate before sophomore reliever
Aiden Milburn (save) induced a pop-up to end the threat.
Sophomore
Ben Griffith (W, 1-1) earned the win with 2.0 scoreless innings of relief work. Griffith allowed just one hit and struck out two.
In that big second inning as the rain increased, Binghamton batted around. Sweeney delivered a bases-loaded 2-run double to tie the game at 4-4 and three batters later, Popoff cleared the bases with a 3-run double that carried to the wall in right center. That blast gave the Bearcats a 7-4 lead and also took the teams off the field for a 32-minute rain delay.
One inning later, Gonzalez took a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left for a 2-run home run.
Sweeney added another RBI in the fifth inning. He batted .714 in the series (5-for-7) with seven RBI. For the season, Sweeney is hitting .563 in eight games.
Binghamton stays at home to face Le Moyne at 3 p.m. Tuesday.
