Stony Brook, Binghamton Align in 2019 #AEBASE Championship Game
Vestal, N.Y. – The battle for the 2019 #AEBASE championship trophy has been narrowed down to Stony Brook and Binghamton and will play out on Saturday in the finale.
The title game will feature a rematch of the seventh game of this championship. The top seed and regular season champion Seawolves are the winner’s bracket representatives and are in search of their first championship since 2015. The Bearcats emerged out of the loser’s bracket after falling short against the Seawolves in the first game on Friday. Binghamton last won a title in 2016 and, should they win twice on Saturday, it would be the first time since 2012 the tournament champion has celebrated on its own field.
Stony Brook 5, Binghamton 4
A pitcher’s duel turned into a back-and-forth affair as Stony Brook advanced to the title game. Brandon Alamo was hit by a pitch to lead off the second inning and advanced on a single and sacrifice bunt before scoring the game’s initial run on a wild pitch. Stony Brook senior Bret Clarke took a no-hitter into the sixth when Connor Aoki ended the bid and scored on a Shane Marshall two-run home run to give the Bearcats the lead. The Seawolves tied the game in the sixth and Sean Buckhout hit a game-winning three-run home run which proved to be the difference. The Bearcats cut the deficit to two in the eighth and had the winning run on second with one out in the ninth but could not push it across.
Hartford 5, UAlbany 3
The Hawks continued to keep the offseason at bay, getting six shutout innings from starting pitcher Billy DeVito, who earned the victory. Zach Ardito started the scoring attack for the Hawks with a two-run double in the third inning as part of his game-high three RBIs. Drew DeMartino continued his red-hot postseason, finishing the game 3-for-5 with a pair of runs. The tournament’s six seed led 5-0 in the eighth inning but the Great Danes were able to score three times against the Hartford bullpen. Will Nowak shut the door in the ninth to secure the victory.
Binghamton 10, Hartford 5
The Bearcats scored runs in each of their first three plate appearances to build a 7-2 lead in the day's finale. Heading into the bottom of the sixth, the Hawks cut the score to 7-5 before the host team scored three more times. Shane Marshall hit a home run in the third consecutive game – his solo shot to start the inning was his seventh RBI of the championship. Eight Bearcats drove in a run and the team has now totaled 34 runs in four postseason games. Jack Collins earned the victory, throwing 3.1 innings of one-hit ball.
Stony Brook and Binghamton will play for the title Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+. A Binghamton win would force another game at approximately 4:30 p.m. also on ESPN+.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links as well as box scores, highlights and recaps following each day in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEDigitalNet on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEBASE hashtags to join the conversation.
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