bupipedream.com | April 15, 2019
SPORTS
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Baseball takes one of three against first-place Seawolves Anderson tosses complete game in lone win Michael Steinberg pipe dream sports
Good, but just not good enough. The Binghamton baseball team welcomed one of the best teams in the America East (AE) conference, the Stony Brook Seawolves, to the Bearcats Sports Complex for a three-game series over the weekend. The Bearcats (14-14, 4-4 AE) played well, but were not good enough to edge out Stony Brook (20-11, 9-3 AE) in the series, dropping two of the matchups. “I think they were three very competitive ballgames, and you saw everybody, players from both teams, compete in a pretty good level,” said BU head coach Tim Sinicki. “I think what separated things was that they may have executed a little better than we did.” The first game of the series went down to the last inning and beyond, as Stony Brook pushed the game to extra innings in the top of the ninth and won 7-6. Most of the Seawolves’ runs came off a grand slam by senior infielder Brandon Alamo in the top of the fifth, which was set up after two walks and a single. Then, up two runs in the ninth inning, Binghamton was not able to put the Seawolves away, as it tied the game up and then cemented the outcome in the 10th inning.
rose coschignano pipe dream photographer Redshirt junior second baseman Alex Baratta had two hits and recorded two RBIs in Binghamton’s lone win of its series against Stony Brook.
The second game’s story was pitching. Specifically, the performance of Binghamton’s best pitcher, junior Ben Anderson, one of the two best pitchers in the AE. Anderson leads the AE with six wins and has far more strikeouts than any other pitcher with 66. The next closest pitcher has 49. Anderson pitched an impressive, complete-
game shutout, allowing eight hits and only one walk through seven innings, all while adding nine strikeouts to his stat sheet. The Bearcats were able to support his dominant start by plating five runs on six hits. “I think it’s his [Anderson’s] development,” Sinicki said. “He’s developed appropriately throughout the course of his
career here and I think he’s now gotten to a point where his pitches are able to get him through a lineup multiple times as opposed to maybe last year.” The Bearcats faced several injuries during the last game of the series, missing several starting pitchers, as well as junior catcher T.J. Wegmann and sophomore shortstop Jake Evans.
“Injuries are part of the game so they’ll never be an excuse,” Sinicki said. “You’ll never hear an excuse out of this mouth for injury. Those injuries are opportunities for other guys and we have to make the most of those opportunities.” The Bearcats showed some fielding woes in the third game, as they fell 6-3 to Stony Brook
in the rubber match. There were several hard-hit balls that were within reach of players who could not make plays, which accounted for Stony Brook’s five doubles throughout the game. Freshman catcher Connor Aoki did well for some of the game, throwing out a runner at second, but missed a throw to allow a runner to come home in the seventh inning. Redshirt junior second baseman Alex Baratta had another strong series, hitting a tworun homer in the second game against Stony Brook and overall going 4-for-11 with three RBIs throughout the series. Baratta continues to maintain the best batting average on the team and the fourth-highest average in the AE at .365. BU had been playing well of late, winning five out of the last six games, with the only losses coming in the extra-innings loss in the first game of their doubleheader Saturday and the loss on Sunday. It had a threegame winning streak against nonconference schools before coming into its second conference series of the season against Stony Brook this weekend. “We did some good things, we just have to do better,” Sinicki said. “That’s all, plain and simple.” Binghamton gets a break from conference play as Marist College comes to visit the Bearcats for a single game on Wednesday, April 17. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. from the Bearcats Sports Complex in Vestal, New York.
Softball swept by America East-leading UMass Lowell Binghamton handed fifth consecutive defeat Evan Cole
assistant sports editor
To finish off its five-game homestand, the Binghamton softball team squared off with UMass Lowell in a three-game series this weekend. Looking to improve from getting swept by second-place Albany on Wednesday, the Bearcats tried to play more complete games against the River Hawks, but ultimately saw the same result against the America East’s (AE) top team, dropping all three games despite contested scores and extending Binghamton’s losing streak to five. “We made some mistakes yesterday [Saturday], and I think today [Sunday] we lost our focus a little bit in certain spots,” said BU head coach Michelle Johnston. “I think if we have a little bit better offensive production, we know that [UML] is beatable if we do some things a little bit better.” Each game on Saturday’s twin bill featured both a strong performance from Binghamton’s starters and the Bearcats (1421, 3-8 AE) jumping out to early leads, but also showcased UML (20-12, 8-0 AE) taking the advantage in the seventh inning due to a lack of offensive production for BU. In the opener, the Bearcats jumped out to a quick lead off
a bases-clearing triple from sophomore utility player Sarah Benn in the first inning. Down by three from the start, the River Hawks slowly clawed their way back with three runs that were not driven in by a hit. Two sacrifice flies and an error allowed UMass Lowell to tie the game by the end of the third inning, while Binghamton’s bats fell lifeless. The Bearcats failed to score for the remainder of the contest despite junior pitcher Rayn Gibson throwing a complete game. In the top of the seventh, the River Hawks took the lead on a sacrifice fly, taking a 4-3 edge and marking another hitless run for UML. BU went down quietly in the bottom of the seventh, and Gibson was charged with the defeat despite striking out six and allowing only three earned runs. Binghamton’s offensive struggles continued in the nightcap, but some timely hitting put the team in a decent position to win late, largely thanks to junior pitcher Rozlyn Price’s performance starting the game. Price’s first six innings were masterful, as she allowed only one run on four hits and struck out four River Hawk batters. Binghamton’s hitters began providing Price with some run support in the fifth inning when sophomore infielder Makayla Alvarez drilled a home run to left center, tying the game at one. In the following frame, junior catcher Sara Herskowitz
helped BU take a 2-1 lead on an RBI single. Pitching with a lead in the seventh inning, Price was tagged for four hits and two runs. UMass Lowell rallied behind small ball to take and hold a 3-2 advantage for the remainder of the game. “We gotta trust and feel good that we’re gonna be able to finish these games,” Johnston said. “Right now, there isn’t that much confidence as far as having that … I think this game is about getting stronger as the game goes on and … we gotta make sure that we’re getting better. I feel like we’ve let up and aren’t necessarily having the best at bats at the end of the game.” The Bearcats trailed nearly wire-to-wire in Sunday’s finale, falling behind 4-0 in the second inning and failing to pull within a run for the remainder of the game. UML’s offense was powered by redshirt junior infielder Casey Harding, who blasted a three-run homer to dead center field and set the game’s tone. A late effort from BU helped the team plate three runs in the game’s final innings, but two insurance runs from UML helped seal the sweep. The failure of the Bearcats to produce consistently on offense hurt them throughout the series, as the team’s pitchers did not throw with a comfortable margin at any point of this weekend’s games. This both enabled the River Hawks to stay within games despite trailing, and take the lead when necessary.
A lone constant in BU’s offense was freshman infielder Marissa Braito, who batted 6-for-11, stole two bases and scored four runs in the series. As the leadoff hitter, she was able to start frames strongly for the Bearcats, but the team failed to capitalize in lieu of
her presence leading off. “She continues to get on base for us,” Johnston said. “I think she sets a tone offensively, and we need to work to get better off of that and use that to our advantage.” After grinding through a
gauntlet against the AE’s toptwo teams, the Bearcats return to nonconference play on Thursday when they travel to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania to take on Bucknell in a doubleheader. First pitch from Becker Field is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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kojo senoo pipe dream photographer Freshman infielder Marissa Braito had a team-high six hits as BU was swept in a series against UMass Lowell.
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