SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Binghamton baseball (23-16) scored 20 runs in the first three innings en route to a 24-13 run-rule-shortened rout of Le Moyne (14-22) Tuesday afternoon at Dick Rockwell Field.
Sophomore DH
Tommy Popoff keyed a 12-run third inning with a grand slam and classmates
Steven Kraus and
Grant Hunter added 3-run shots before the game was halted after seven innings.
The Bearcats were recipients of a school-record 15 walks by Dolphin pitchers and scored the most runs since the 2023 team put 27 runs on Mt. St. Mary's.
On Tuesday, Binghamton and Le Moyne had 12 hits apiece and the Dolphins produced their share of offense by scoring multiple runs in five of the first six innings. There were only two frames (fourth and seventh) when neither team scored.
Binghamton sent nine to the plate in the first inning and scored five runs - two coming on a Popoff single up the middle. Kraus then went yard for his fourth home run of the season. After Le Moyne got three runs back in the bottom of the first, the Bearcats struck again with three in the top of the second as walks continued to haunt the host team.
The third inning featured 16 Binghamton batters and the Popoff grand slam over the center field wall for his fourth of the season.
Sean Sweeney (3-for-3, 2 RBI, 4 runs) added a two-run double. Twelve different players scored runs and 11 collected RBIs. Binghamton reached double digits for the 11th time this season - all in the last 27 games.
The Bearcats took a breather in scoreless fourth and fifth innings before finishing with four final runs in the sixth - three coming courtesy of Hunter's team-leading seventh home run of the season.
Before being subbed out, Popoff came within one RBI of tying the school record of eight. Meanwhile, sophomore right fielder
Braylen Gonzalez did tie a record with four walks. Kraus wound up with four RBI.
Binghamton next hosts Maine in a weekend set between the top two teams in the America East with the Bearcats holding a three-game cushion atop the conference standings with nine games left in the slate.
