The Seawolves traveled to Binghamton to face the Bearcats in the first two games of a 4-game series. The result was two losses, as the Bearcats managed to sweep the doubleheader and drop the Seawolves overall record to 16-15, 6-4 in the America East.
The Bearcats got on the scoreboard early in the first game, which went 7 innings. After a solo homer in the bottom of the first inning gave them a 1-0 lead in the first inning, junior Robert Dyer (Selden, N.Y) sent a three run bomb over the right center field fence to give the Seawolves a 3-1 advantage in the second. The Bearcats eliminated the gap on a two run single in the third inning, and the two teams were knotted at 3.
But the Seawolves unleashed a flurry of runs in the fourth. The road team scored four times in the inning, highlighted by another home run to right-center field from Dyer. The score stayed at 7-3 until midway through the seventh inning, when the Bearcats began to rally and put the Seawolves on the ropes.
After the Bearcats loaded the bases, a two-run single from Corey Taylor sliced the Seawolves lead to 7-5. The Bearcats loaded the bases again, and followed that with a sacrifice fly to center field that brought in another run, cutting the lead to just 1. A batter later, the Bearcats tied the score on an RBI single.
Still not done, the Bearcats loaded the bases a third time, setting up a Jeff Abrams walk off RBI, and giving the home team a come-back win over the Seawolves, 8-7.
Freshman right-hander Tyler Johnson (Chatsworth, Calif.) started on the mound for the Seawolves, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs in 6.0 innings of work. Junior righthander Jeremy Nowak (Cheektowaga, N.Y.) took the loss, after pitching 0.1 innings and allowing 5 hits and 3 runs, and dropped his record to 0-1.
The second game was a low scoring one. The Seawolves got on the board in the top of the third inning on a Brian Witkowski (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) solo homer to right field. The Seawolves held the 1-0 lead until the sixth inning, when the Bearcats tied the score on a sacrifice fly RBI.
The pace of the game quickened in the seventh inning. The Seawolves tallied 3 hits and 2 runs in the period, highlighted by an RBI groundout from Robert Dyer (Selden, N.Y.) and a Keith Fier (Armonk, N.Y.) bunt that brought in a run.
But the Bearcats clawed their way back into it in the eighth inning. After a couple of run scoring singles tied the score at 3, the home team loaded the bases with one out in the ninth. Then, a Corey Taylor single brought home another run, which proved to be the winning run and gave the Bearcats a 4-3 victory.
Senior righthander Mike Errigo (Bayside, N.Y.) pitched a stingy 7.1 innings, allowing only 3 runs and 4 hits. Lefthander Marc Brown pitched 1.0 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 run and picking up the loss to drop to 1-2.
Editors Note: The Seawolves also lost the first game of the Sunday doubleheader, 8-7, blowing a 3-0 lead. They won the second game 7-6, scoring 6 run’s in the seventh to tie, and 1 in the ninth to win. Steven Mazzurco finished 3-4 in the second game and Mike Stephan drove in the winning run.
The Seawolves record now stands at 17-16, 7-5 in the America East.