VESTAL, N.Y. - Junior DH
Zach Anderson drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift No. 1 Binghamton baseball (30-20) to a comeback 6-5 win over No. 3 Maine (23-31) in an America East tournament winners' bracket game Friday afternoon at Bearcats Baseball Stadium. With the victory, Binghamton advances to Saturday's championship round, where it needs just one more win to claim the program's second straight conference title and with it, another NCAA Regional berth.
The winner of the elimination game between the Black Bears and No. 2 UMBC will have to beat Binghamton twice to grab the title.
The Bearcats trailed 5-4 with two outs in the ninth inning before taking advantage of some accuracy issues by Maine pitchers. Sophomore right fielder
Braylen Gonzalez led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice. Sophomore center fielder
Matt Bolton drew a walk and with one out, senior left fielder
Zack Kent worked a two-out walk to load the bases. Freshman first baseman
Caden Albright was hit by pitch to tie the game at 5-5. Anderson then took a 3-2 pitch outside to walk and force in the winning run, setting off a Bearcat celebration.
The back-and-forth game featured three ties and eight runs scored over the final tense three innings.
Binghamton led 2-1 before Maine scored three runs in the seventh inning to take a 4-2 lead. The Bearcats got one run back in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore third baseman
Tim Hennig led off with a triple off the center field wall. After a walk to Gonzalez, sophomore second baseman
Sean Sweeney brought in Hennig with an RBI groundout. Then in the eighth, the Bearcats tied it with a dramatic play at the plate and subsequent video review. Sophomore first baseman
Steven Kraus led off with a double to the wall in left center. After a sacrifice moved sophomore pinch runner
Sam Miller to third, senior shortstop
Mike Stellrecht came up with one out. Stellrecht lifted a fly ball to shallow center and on the catch, the speedy Miller raced home and just beat the throw with a strong slide. The safe call was confirmed by replay.
Maine recaptured the momentum, however, with a leadoff home run in the top of the ninth, setting the stage for the Bearcats' dramatic rally in the bottom of the frame.
Gonzalez went 2-for-3 with two runs and Hennig went 2-for-4 with a triple and two runs. Kraus had the key double and two hits.
Freshman starter
Mason Holloway struck out five and limited Maine to one run on four hits in 3.1 innings. Junior
Jackson Mitchell worked 3.0 innings and gave up two runs before classmate
Hayden Tarsia (W, 2-2) worked the fnal 2.2 innings and kept the Black Bears to one run.
The championship round is slated to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday with the "if necessary" game to follow at 5 p.m. But the rainy forecast may require a change. Sunday remains an option for either or both games. The NCAA Selection Show is at noon Monday on ESPN2.
