VESTAL, N.Y. - Top-seeded Binghamton baseball (31-20) hit two home runs and limited third-seeded Maine (24-32) to just four hits in a 7-3 America East championship game victory late Saturday night at Bearcats Baseball Stadium. With the win, Binghamton capped a 3-0 tournament with the program's second straight conference title and third in the last five years. The Bearcats again will carry the America East banner into the NCAA Regionals, which will be announced at noon Monday on ESPN2.
With its seventh America East tournament title, Binghamton now has the most crowns of any conference baseball team, past or present, in the 37-year history of the conference. The Bearcats also completed the "double" of regular-season and tournament titles - the third time Binghamton has accomplished that feat. Under 34th-year head coach
Tim Sinicki, the program has combined to win 14 regular season and tournament titles in the last 19 years - the most of any America East team.
"What we really had this year were tough kids," Sinicki said. "Kids who never gave up and found ways to make plays when we needed to ... get a big hit when we needed to. Toughness stood out for us this weekend and throughout the whole season and I think it really carried us from start to finish."
Binghamton snapped a 1-1 tie with three runs in the third and the Bearcats added a run in the sixth and two more insurance runs in the eighth. The Black Bears closed the scoring with two runs in the ninth before junior reliever
Jake Dally induced a fly ball to right to end it and set off the program's first-ever title celebration on its home field.
Dally worked the final 3.0 innings and limited Maine to two hits. He saved it for sophomore
Brady Lesiak (W, 2-0), who pitched 3.1 scoreless innings of 1-hit ball. Lesiak retired the first nine hitters he saw after entering in the third frame and he kept the Black Bears potent lineup in check. Maine entered the game averaging more than eight runs and 12 hits in its previous four tournament games.
Sophomore center fielder
Matt Bolton, championship MVP, went 3-for-4 with a two-run home run - the key blow in the third inning. After sophomore second baseman
Sean Sweeney reached on an error, Bolton ripped a 2-1 pitch well over the bullpen in right field (375 feet) for his sixth homer of the season and a 3-1 lead. Four hitters later, junior DH
Zach Anderson delivered an RBI double to the right center field wall to score sophomore first baseman
Steven Kraus and make it 4-1. One inning earlier, Kraus launched a 400-foot solo home run over the wall in right center. He went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and earned All-Championship laurels.
Joining Bolton and Kraus on the All-Championship team were sophomore third baseman
Tim Hennig and junior starter
Conner Griffin. Kraus provided some breathing room Saturday night with a 2-run double in the eighth and added several outstanding defensive plays at third. Griffin worked 5.0 scoreless innings in Binghamton's tournament-opening 3-0 win over UMass Lowell on Thursday.
After the teams waited out a day-long deluge of rain, the game started at 8 p.m. and the Bearcats kept their focus as rain continued to fall throughout the game. With slick conditions and a dark sky, Maine committed three errors and an offense that hit double-digits twice earlier in the tournament was held in check. Binghamton, meanwhile, collected nine hits and played error-free defense.
NOTES
The championship game win gave the Bearcats 31 wins on the season, which ties the school record set in 2010 ... Binghamton became the first home team to win the conference title in 15 years and the first repeat winner in 12 years (since the Bearcats did it in 2013 and 2014) ... the Bearcats have won three titles in a five year stretch, only outdone by their 3-in-4-years run between 2013-16.
