Jeremiah Jenkins highlighted a four run eighth inning on Friday afternoon with a game winning three-run homerun, as the Maine Black Bears rallied to beat Binghamton 5-4 in America East action at the Bearcats Baseball Complex in Vestal, New York.
The teams swapped a pair of solo homeruns to begin the scoring. Kevin Gsell led off the second inning with a solo shot to left field for Binghamton off Maine starter Colin Fitzgerald, while Quinn McDaniel evened it for the Black Bears his ninth of the season with one out in the third off Thomas Babalis to left. Both pitchers settled in for a while after that, as the Bearcats had the only two baserunners from that point into the sixth inning on a double and an error. The hosts regained the lead when Nick Roselli hit a solo homer to left with two outs in the sixth. Babalis retired 15 straight batters after the McDaniel homerun, leaving after 7.0 innings with the pitch count at 102. Maine rallied back against the bullpen in the eighth. Dean O’Neill led off with a single, but was erased at second base on a fielders choice by Dylan McNary. McNary stole second, and was driven in on a Jake Rainess single to tie it. McDaniel then followed with a single, before Jenkins came up and took an 0-1 pitch over the fence in left center field for a three-run homer to make it 5-2 Black Bears. Binghamton (18-11, 5-2 America East) made things interesting in a hurry in the bottom half of the frame. Isaiah Corry and Cavan Tully both doubled to start it off to make it 5-3, ending the day for Fitzgerald. Justin Beayens came on to pitch and was greeted by singles by Tommy Reifler and Roselli to slice it to 5-4. Gsell though then grounded into a doubleplay, and Devan Bade struckout swinging to end the threat and strand the tying run at third base. Baeyens completed the five out save by retiring the Bearcats in order in the last of the ninth inning.
McDaniel was the only Maine batter to have multiple hits with two of them in the win. The Jenkins homerun was his 12th on the season. Fitzgerald (3-1) hung on to get the pitching victory charged with four runs on six hits with no walks and four strikeouts in 7.0+ innings. The save was the fourth for Baeyens. Roselli had two hits in the loss for Binghamton, as the Bearcats got an RBI each from their top four guys in the lineup. Babalis got a no-decision in a great effort allowing just one run on two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts in his 7.0 innings. John Lumpinski (0-2) was tagged with the pitching defeat as the Black Bears got four runs (three earned) on five hits off the right hander in the decisive eighth inning. Maine has now won nine games in a row, improving to 16-11 overall and 10-0 in America East. The teams will play at 2 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. Sunday to cap off the three game series.
Recap and photo courtesy of Chris Lessner
Maine pitcher Colin Fitzgerald delivers a pitch against Albany recently at Mahaney Diamond. Fitzgerald recorded his third victory of the season on Friday as Maine stayed unbeaten in conference play and extended their win streak to nine with a 5-4 win at Binghamton.
Box Score
UME 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 4 0- 5 7 1
BIN 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 0- 4 8 0
WP- Fitzgerald (3-1) LP- Lumpinski (0-2) SV- Baeyens (4)
2B- Maine: none/Binghamton: Tully, Gunning, Reilly, Corry
HR- Maine: McDaniel, Jenkins/Binghamton: Gsell, Roselli
SB- Maine: McNary/Binghamton: none
E- Maine: Fitzgerald/Binghamton: none
Time- 2:01
