No. 3 Binghamton 8, No. 2 Hartford 0
Box Score
Behind a complete-game shutout from junior Greg Ostner, the Binghamton Bearcats advanced to the America East Baseball Championship round for the second-straight year, beating Hartofrd, 8-0, in an elimination game Saturday afternoon at LeLacheur Park.
Binghamton will face No. 1 Stony Brook in the championship round, needing two wins to clinch the title. The Seawolves can take home their fifth tournament title with a win. The start of the game is being delayed due to rain.
Making just his second career start, Ostner scattered six hits and issued just one walk while striking out four. He got 14 fly outs and eight ground outs on 105 pitches, helping Binghamton become just the sixth team in America East history to advance to the championship round after losing their first game.
The Bearcats came out swinging, scoring five runs on five hits in the first inning off Hartford starter Kyle Gauthier. All five hits came in succession, beginning with three-straight singles from Zach Blanden, Billy Bereszniewicz and Daniel Nevares to load the bases. Jake Thomas started the scoring with a two-run single, and Shaun McGraw tacked on two more with a double to left field. Brendan Skidmore had the final RBI of the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Ostner retired 12 of the first 15 batters he faced and did not allow a runner to advance past first over the first five innings. Only two Hawks moved past first base in the entire game, reaching second in the sixth and ninth innings.
Jeremy Charles relieved Gauthier for Hartford after the first inning and kept Binghamton off the scoreboard in the next three innings. He ran into trouble in the fifth, allowing the first four batters to reach before exiting the contest.
Binghamton added three more runs in the fifth, with three different players accounting for RBI. Gamache had the first after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded while John Howell had a sac fly and Eddie Posavec grounded a single to right.