VESTAL, N.Y. - Top-seeded, regular season winner, tournament host and reigning champion Binghamton baseball begins its postseason journey at 11 a.m. Thursday morning.  

Binghamton is hosting the six-team, nine-game tournament over four days at the Bearcats Baseball Complex. On Wednesday, No. 3 seed Maine faces No. 6 UAlbany (5 p.m.) after No. 4 Bryant meets No. 5 UMass Lowell (1 p.m.) in elimination games. Of Wednesday's two game winners, Binghamton will face the lower remaining seed and No. 2 UMBC (also with a first-round bye) will play the higher-remaining seed. Beginning Thursday, the format is double-elimination. There will be three games played on Thursday, two on Friday and the championship round (1-2 games) set for Saturday. 

REIGNING CHAMP BINGHAMTON LOOKS FOR THIRD TITLE IN LAST 5 YEARS
Reigning tournament champion and regular season winner Binghamton enters the postseason with its highest regular-season win total in nine years. The Bearcats earned the No. 1 seed. Binghamton has advanced to the championship round four times in the last six years with runnerup finishes in 2019 and 2023 and titles in 2022 and 2025. 

FOURTH YEAR WITH 2-PART TOURNAMENT FORMAT
For the fourth 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. 

SINICKI IS NATION'S LONGEST TENURED COACH
Head coach Tim Sinicki is closing out his 34th season and he has amassed 750+ wins. Now a seven-time America East Coach of the Year (2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2026), Sinicki is the longest-tenured coach in Binghamton University history and owns the longest tenure at one school among any current NCAA Division I baseball coaches. Sinicki's teams have captured six America East titles since 2009. 

BEARCATS VS. TOURNAMENT FIELD
Binghamton is 14-7 against the tournament field from the regular season. The Bearcats went 9-3 at home and 5-4 on the road. Binghamton went 3-0 vs. No. 2 UMBC, 1-2 vs. No. 3 Maine, 4-2 vs. both No. 4 Bryant and No. 5 UML and 2-1 vs. No. 6 UAlbany.   
  
BYE FOR BEARCATS
After two straight seasons of being relegated to the Day 1 single-elimination game, the Bearcats will enjoy a bye this year.           

THIRTEEN TITLES IN 19 YEARS
Binghamton has won a combined 13 America East regular season and tournament titles in the last 19 years (non-COVID) - the most of any team in the conference during that span. The Bearcats won four straight regular season crown between 2007-10, won back-to-back in 2016 and 2017 and then this spring. The team's six postseason tournament titles came in 2009, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2022 and 2025.  

SEVENTH REGULAR SEASON TITLE BUT FIRST IN NINE YEARS 
Binghamton rode an 11-game conference win streak to first place and then held off UMBC, Maine and Bryant down stretch to claim the program's seventh regular season title but first since 2017. The Bearcats went 9-3 at home and 8-4 on the road against America East foes. The team's 71% conference win percentage is highest since the 2017 team went 15-4 (30-11 in regular season). 

MOST REGULAR SEASON WINS SINCE 2017
Binghamton's 28 wins are the most in the regular season since the 2017 team went 30-11. The team's 17 conference wins are its most since the 2016 team went 19-5 in AE play.   

BEARCATS TRYING TO BREAK HOST CURSE
Hosting the event rarely translates into winning the title. The last seven hosts came up short, including Maine last season and Binghamton in 2024. Accepting that the tournament was played at neutral locations for seven years, the host school has only won it three times in 23 years — the last being Stony Brook in 2012. The other host champions were Maine in 2002 and Binghamton in 2009 (won at U-E High School).

NO. 1 SEED FOR SEVENTH TIME
Binghamton is the No. 1 seed for the seventh time but first since 2017. The Bearcats are 11-6 all-time as the top seed and won the 2009 and 2016 titles from the top spot. It's the most common seed Binghamton has had in the tourney, just ahead of the No. 3 spot (six times).    

BEARCATS HOST CHAMPIONSHIP FOR SIXTH TIME 
Binghamton will host the America East Championship for the sixth time and third time in the last four years (2009, 2010, 2019, 2023, 2024, 2026). The Bearcats are 10-7 all-time as host with a title in 2009 and runnerup showing in 2023. The last time Bing hosted in 2024, it lost in the single-elimination game and placed sixth.    

JUST THREE HOLDOVER STARTERS FROM 2025 TITLE TEAM 
Only three Bearcat starters return from last spring's championship team: seniors Zack Kent (LF/2B) and Mike Stellrecht (SS) and sophomore Matt Bolton (CF). Binghamton's 2025 title team was senior-heavy (5), making this year's stellar team finish perhaps considered a year early after the roster overhaul.   

"SOPHOMORE SIX"
There are six sophomores in the starting lineup: Bolton, Gonzalez, Sweeney, Hennig, Kraus and Popoff. Only Bolton is a returning starter. The other five moved into vacated roles this spring and have blossomed.

REGULAR SEASON TITLE MAY HAVE COME A YEAR EARLY 
After graduating four first team all-conference selections and hitters 2-5 in the lineup, the Bearcats were expected to drop off offensively and in the standings. Instead, a group of somewhat unproven sophomores lifted Binghamton to its first regular season title in nine years (2017).   

SEVEN ALL-CONFERENCE SELECTIONS
The Bearcats tied for their second-most all-conference selections (7) in program history with three first-teamers and four second-teamers. Matt Bolton, Tommy Popoff and Sean Sweeney made the first team and Conner Griffin, Jackson Mitchell, Tim Hennig and Braylen Gonzalez made the second team. Mason Holloway was named to the All-Rookie Team.   

KRAUS MAKES RUN AT CONSECUTIVE ON-BASE RECORD
Sophomore first baseman Steven Kraus began the season by reaching base in 32 consecutive games — from the opener on Feb. 13 at Dallas Baptist until the second game of a DH on April 18. That streak, which ended against Bryant on April 18, was tied for third-longest in program history (Freddy Forgione set mark with 39 straight last year).   

WHEN WILL A TITLE TEAM REPEAT??
After the Bearcats won three America East titles in a four-year span (2013-16), the conference saw a different champion in seven straight years before the Bearcats stopped that trend last spring. There hasn't been a repeat champion in 11 years, since Binghamton went back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.  

TOP TWO SEEDS HISTORICALLY "OWN" TOURNEY
Largely due to the first-round byes and accompanying pitching advantage afforded the top two seeds, one of the top two has claimed nine of the last 10 tournaments. The Bearcats snapped that streak with a crown as the No. 3 seed last season. The No. 1 or No. 2 seed has won 16 of the 23 championships (70%) since Binghamton joined the America East in 2002. The No. 3 seed has won five titles (Binghamton did it twice) and the No. 4 seed has won it twice.  

COMEBACK 'CATS ... DON'T COUNT THEM OUT
Binghamton had 17 comeback wins this season, including eight games when they were done by three or more runs. 

STRIKE EARLY, CAREFUL OF MIDDLE INNINGS, CLOSE STRONG
Binghamton is +29 on the season during the first three innings, with the second inning (+22) being the team's most productive for runs. Opponents have the edge in the middle three frames, thanks to a +13 margin in the fourth inning. The Bearcats then close strong with a +12 run differential in the final three innings. 
 
STARTER-CLOSER SWAP WITH TARSIA, MITCHELL 
Binghamton has juggled its pitching rotation all season due to injuries and mixed results. The most prominent change occurred in early April when all-conference junior No. 1 starter Hayden Tarsia was moved to the bullpen and junior closer Jackson Mitchell was inserted into the starting weekend rotation. Sophomore No. 2 Brady Bouchard also was moved from a weekend spot to the bullpen at the end of March. The rotation absorbed another shakeup when Mitchell went to the shelf in May, missing one start (vs. UAlbany) before going 2.0 IP in the tournament tuneup at UMass Lowell last Saturday.  

HOLLOWAY PRODUCES SOLID ROOKIE CAMPAIGN
Freshman All-Rookie Team pitcher Mason Holloway moved into the starting rotation almost halfway through the season (March 29) and has been a reliable weekend starter since, making six starts in conference play. He has more than a 3-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio (42K, 12BB). Holloway was the lone SP on the All-Rookie Team.      

WHO'S HOT?? 
• LF Zack Kent hitting .365 in his last 22 games
• C Tommy Popoff hitting .364 with 35 RBI in last 18 gms (1.94/game)
• CF Matt Bolton hitting .359 with 35 RBI in last 34 games
• 3B Tim Hennig hitting .344 with 25 RBI in last 30 games 

WHO DO YOU WANT AT PLATE IN KEY SPOT?? 
• 2B Sean Sweeney is hitting .455 with runners in scoring position
• 3B Tim Hennig is hitting .545 with bases loaded (6-for-11)
• CF Matt Bolton is hitting .500 with bases loaded (5-for-10)
• LF Zack Kent has scored the runner from third with less than two outs in 9-of-10 opportunities (.900)
• C Tommy Popoff has a team-best 22 two-out RBIs

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AMERICA EAST BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

Wednesday, May 20, 2026
(single elimination)
GM 1: 1:00 PM - No. 4 Bryant vs. No. 5 UMass Lowell 
GM 2: 5:00 PM - No. 3 Maine vs. No. 6 UAlbany

Thursday, May 21, 2026
(double elimination)
GM 3: 11:00 AM - No. 1 Binghamton vs. Lower Seeded Day 1 Winner
GM 4: 3:00 PM - No. 2 UMBC vs. Higher Seeded Day 1 Winner
GM 5: 7:00 PM - Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Friday, May 22, 2026
GM 6: 1:00 PM - Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4
GM 7: 5:00 PM - Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6

Saturday, May 23, 2025
GM 8: 12:00 PM - Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7
GM 9: 4:00 PM - If necessary game (45 min after GM 8)