ORONO- After rain postponed both games on day three of the America East Baseball Tournament on Friday, the postseason continued on Saturday at Mahaney Diamond with now just Binghamton and Bryant left standing to play in the championship round on Sunday. Below are the recaps of the Saturday action.
Binghamton 21, Albany 6- The Bearcats became the first club to advance to the championship round, pounding out 21 hits and scoring seven times in the second inning to cool off the red hot Great Danes in rolling to the victory. Trailing 2-1 with one out in the bottom of that second frame, Logan Haskell and Mike Stellrecht singled and Todd Abraham walked to load the bases. Matt Bolton then singled to tie it, Zach Rogacki hammered a two-run double over the fielders head in rightfield, and Devan Bade slapped the fourth single of the inning to score another run to make it 5-2 Binghamton. Evin Sullivan capped off the big rally with a three-run homerun to left. Bade, Haskell, and Stellrecht also homered in the blowout win. Stellrecht led the offense with five hits and five RBI, Sullivan had four runs driven in, Bade added four hits and three RBI, while Haskell also drove in three. Bolton had three base hits from the leadoff spot, and Freddie Forgione along with Zack Kent contributed a pair of hits. Brady Bouchard (3-4) picked up the pitching victory in relief allowing just one run on seven hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 4.1 innings. Binghamton became the first team in America East Tournament history to have three straight games of scoring 12+ runs. Michael Maggio had two RBI for Albany. Levi McAllister, Kyle Stephens, and Cooper Loyal had two hits each. Ethan Nardacci (1-4) was touched up for eight runs on nine hits in 2.0 in suffering the loss on the hill.
Bryant 8, Albany 2 (elimination game)- The Bulldogs scored six times in the first inning and moved onto Sunday by eliminating the Great Danes. Bryant hit two homeruns in the bottom of the first for most of the damage. Brandyn Durand crushed a no doubt three-run shot almost to the student bleachers at the football stadium in leftfield, and Charlie Saul launched a two-run longball. Saul had three hits and Durand had three RBI to lead the offense, while Jackson Vanesko (6-3) earned the pitching win allowing two runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Dylan Scudder fired the final 3.0 frames to pick up his second save. Jared Toby had two hits for Albany, and Anthony Scarabino along with Loyal provided the only runs with back to back solo homers in the fifth inning. Tyler Kneller (2-4) suffered the loss on the mound as he gave up six runs on three hits with three walks and a strikeout in his lone inning of work. The fifth seeded Great Danes end the season with a record of 22-32.
It’ll be #3 Binghamton (28-23) and #1 Bryant (35-18-1) in the championship round on Sunday at 12 p.m. The Bearcats are looking to tie Maine and former league members Delaware and Stony Brook for most overall titles with six, and will be seeking their first since 2022. The Bulldogs, who joined America East in 2023, look to make it back to back championships. Binghamton, who has outscored their opponents 50-24 in the tournament on 49 hits and have hit seven homeruns as a team, will need just one win to finish it off. If Bryant wins game one, a second game at 4 p.m. would be played to decide the 2025 champion. The Bulldogs swept the Bearcats in a three games series at Binghamton in April during the regular season.
