The Binghamton University Bearcats picked the perfect time to play their best baseball of the season. Junior right hander Ryan Bryggman pitched 7.0 strong innings, and three different Binghamton hitters had two RBI each as the Bearcats rolled past the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks 7-1 at Mahaney Diamond in Orono in the America East Championship Game on Saturday night. The game was moved from an original 1 p.m. start to 8 p.m. due to rain and thunderstorms in the area.
The #2 seeded Bearcats got the scoring started in the bottom of the second inning. Evin Sullivan and Kevin Reilly led it off with back to back singles, and then with two outs Jake Evans singled down the left field line to score Sullivan for a 1-0 Binghamton lead. UMass-Lowell got their only offense of the night in the top of the third when Gerry Siracusa hit an RBI sacrifice fly to drive in Robert Gallagher, who had started the frame with a single. The Bearcats regained the lead for good in the fourth when Andrew Tan stroked a two-run double, and Colin Mason added an RBI sacrifice fly to make it 4-1. Mason added an RBI single in the sixth, and Sullivan a two-run single in the seventh that ended the scoring. Binghamton (22-28) won all three games they played in Orono this week and have now won five games in a row, capturing their first America East Tournament Championship since 2016 and fifth overall in school history.
Bryggman (5-5) allowed just the one run on four hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. Sullivan had three hits, while Reilly, Tan, and Evans had two hits each. Sullivan, Tan, and Mason knocked in two a piece. LJ Keevan (5-5) took the pitching loss for UMass-Lowell allowing seven runs on 11 hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Gallagher, Fritz Genther, Brandon Fish, and Jacob Humphrey had the hits for the #4 seed Riverhawks who end their season at 28-30. Humphrey, who was a three sport athlete at Bonny Eagle High School, was returning to his home state and played for the first time in the tournament after clearing COVID protocols. Binghamton will wait to see where they’re headed for the NCAA Tournament, with the selection show to come on Monday at 12 p.m.
UML 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0- 1 4 0
BIN 0 1 0 3 0 1 2 0 x- 7 12 1
WP- Bryggan (5-5) LP- Keevan (5-5)
2B- Roselli, Tan, Fish
SB- Evans, Gallagher, Humphrey
LOB- UMass-Lowell 7, Binghamton 4
Twitter video is courtesy of America East
https://twitter.com/AmericaEast/status/1530739901968228352?t=4JpMy4XGCt2YrvcDrCkW2A&s=19
