Leading 2-1 going into the seventh, the Bearcats scored scored four runs on five hits in the home-half of the seventh to pace a 9-3 win over No. 4 Maine in opening round action of the 2007 America East Baseball Championship.
Binghamton advances in the winners' bracket and will face the winner of the day's second opening-round game between No. 3 Albany and No. 2 Stony Brook, a 7:35 p.m. start. The Black Bears continue in the losers' bracket and will play the loser of the Albany/Stony Brook contest.
Junior third baseman Ryan James (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) went 4-for-5 with two RBIs and a pair of runs scored. Matt Simek (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) went 2-for-5 with two runs batted in.
Maine's Billy Cather (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) went 2-for-3 with a first-inning solo home run, while Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao/Roy C. Katcham) went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in the eighth innning.
Zach Groh (Reading Pa./The Perkiomen School) tossed 7.2 innings allowing three runs, all earned, on four hits. He struck out six and walked four bettering his overall record to 7-1.
Brad Herzler went 6.1 innings allowing six runs, four earned, on nine hits and falls to 4-5 on the season.