ORONO, Maine – The 2022 America East baseball championship comes down to a rematch between #2 Binghamton and #4 UMass Lowell after the two posted crucial wins on Friday.
The Bearcats defeated #4 UMass Lowell, 8-7, in a tennis match on Friday and are in search of their first title since 2016. #3 NJIT followed with a 9-7 victory over top seeded Maine. The River Hawks ended the day by outlasting NJIT 13-8 in the nightcap.
First pitch for the championship is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Mahaney Diamond. If UMass Lowell wins, a decisive final game will be played as part of a doubleheader. The winner gets the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship.
2022 #AEBASE Championship - Day 3 Recap
#2 Binghamton 8, #4 UMass Lowell 5
- Back-to-back doubles in the second inning by Ryan Proto and Jimmy Sullivan had UMass Lowell on the scoreboard first.
- The Bearcats copied that strategy in the home half as Devan Bade and Andrew Tan cashed in on their first at-bats with Tan picking up the RBI on a near home run.
- Fritz Genther and Logan Haskell sent balls over the right field fence in the third as the teams continued to go back and forth.
- Stellar UMass Lowell defense continued as Frank Wayman made an incredible catch leaning into the dugout in the third.
- The Bearcats grabbed their first lead with two runs in the sixth but the River Hawks got those runs back in the top half of the seventh to make it 5-5.
- The Bearcats responded with a two on the scoreboard in the seventh capped by a safety squeeze.
- Nine Bearcats scored or drove in a run, the last of which was a Nick Roselli blast in the eighth.
#3 NJIT 9, #1 Maine 7
- The Highlanders struck first with one run on three hits in the top of the first inning as Julio Marcano scored David Marcano.
- Home runs by Luke Longo and David Marcano in the second chased Maine starter Caleb Leys.
- The Black Bears broke through in the second with an RBI triple from Connor Goodman.
- Goodman later doubled to drive in Maine’s third run in the fifth inning and Ryan Turenne followed with a two-out double to score two and take a 5-4 lead.
- NJIT regained the lead in the sixth with a David Marcano two-run homer.
- Longo homered in the seventh and Julio Marcano added his second homer in the ninth to put the Highlanders’ total to five on the day.
#4 UMass Lowell 13, #3 NJIT 8
- Paul Franzoni gave NJIT a 3-2 lead after one inning of action on a two-RBI double.
- UMass Lowell took a lead of 4-3 in the top of the second and then 6-4 in the top of the third. Kevin Putsky closed the gap to 6-5 in the bottom of the frame.
- Alex Luccini made it 8-5 with a home run in the fifth and a River Hawk three-run sixth extended the lead to 11-5>
- NJIT pulled within three, 11-8, in the bottom of the eighth, but a two-RBI double by Frank Wayman in the ninth provided the 13-8 margin.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links. After each day, visit for box scores, highlights and recaps in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
Follow @AmericaEast and @AEGameday on Twitter to get the real-time championship updates. Use the #AEChamps and #AEBASE hashtags to join the conversation.
- #3Pillars – Building the Complete Student-Athlete -