America East Baseball News & Notes: A tie at the top

Read Time:4 Minute, 46 Second

As we begin the month of April in the America East Baseball Conference, one thing you will notice is a bunched-up standings. Binghamton and NJIT are sharing the top spot in the league. Everyone in the conference is tied with someone, which should make for an interesting and tight race over the final six weeks of the season. Here is where we stand as April begins.

Binghamton (13-13, 4-2) took two of three from UAlbany (9-15, 3-3) last weekend, winning both ends of a doubleheader on Friday before losing the final game on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats got solid pitching from Ryan Packett (2-1) in game one on Friday as he went six innings of two-hit, one earned run baseball. He threw 85 pitches in his outing to get the win, 9-1. Game two saw the Bearcats’ bats come alive. A 2-run top of the eighth gave them enough to win 10-9. A sac-fly from Devin Babe (1-for-3, 3 RBI) was followed by a double to the right center field cap from Evan Sullivan (2-for-5, 1 RS, RBI) to plate the go-ahead run. Ben Griffith (2-0) was the winner with 1.2 Innings of scoreless ball. Mitchell Jackson got his 2nd save after pitching a scoreless ninth. The Great Danes won game 3 with three 2-run innings.

NJIT (13-13, 4-2) lost two of three to Maine (8-18, 3-3). In game one, the Black Bears got a big game from 2nd baseman Myles Sargent as he went 5-for-5, with 2 runs scored and 7 RBI. Two of his five hits were extra base hits, a double and a grand slam in the 3rd. One of two HRs hit by the Black Bears. Maine took game two 7-3 behind a 5-run fifth inning. Caleb Leys went seven innings on the mound, giving up six hits and two earned runs. He struck out 12, walked only 1. Closer Sebastian Holt picked up his fourth save of the season with two innings of shutout ball. NJIT took the finale by a 2-0 score. Starting pitcher Brandon Peterson went the first 6.2 allowing only one hit. He was followed by relief pitcher Nate DeSchryver, who went 2.1 of 1 hit ball for his 2nd save of the year.

UMass Lowell took two of three from Bryant (11-15-1, 2-4) over the weekend. The River Hawks (10-16, 3-3) took two from the Bulldogs on Friday afternoon. They took game one 15-6 with back-to-back five-run innings in the fifth and sixth. RF Carlos Martinez had a big game (3-for-3, 3 RS, 5 RBI), and one of his hits was a HR. In game two, Martinez went deep to right again in support of Brendan Holland, who went the first 7 innings, allowing four hits, two of them HRs, 3 ER, one walk, and 11 Ks. The Ks tied a Division I record at UMass Lowell for strikeouts in a game. He tied a record set by Matt Draper on March 4, 2022, vs James Madison. Nick DiRitio would get the win in relief (2-0). Conor Kelly had the game-winning hit in the ninth, and the River Hawks won 5-4. The Bulldogs won game three 9-2 under cold and wet conditions on Saturday afternoon. SS Drew Wyers had a game going 3-for-4, 2 RS, and 5 RBI. Clay Robbins improved to 1-0 with 5 shutout innings of three-hit baseball

In non-league action, UMBC (9-13, 2-4) won a series from Georgetown University out of the Big East. Game one was won 8-7 on a walk-off double to center field by LF Danny Orr (4-for-5, 2 RS, 3 RBI). It made a winner of Nick Remy (3-0), who went two innings, giving up three hits and three earned runs. Game two was won in extra innings by the Retrievers. In the top of the tenth, Derek Pairs hit a solo HR to give Sam Bell (2-1) the win, 4-3. In a mid-week Tuesday game, UMBC kept it going with a 5-2 win over Big-10 Maryland. They got a 2-run HR down the LF line from Paris in the eighth. In the ninth, Leewood Molessa hit an RBI single up the middle to make it a 5-2 game. Nick Remy (4-0) got the win in relief, going 2.2 innings of shutout pitching.

The league now has four wins over Power-4 teams this season.

The America East Player of the Week is Myles Sargent of Maine. He hit .538 and slugged 1.154 with seven hits and nine RBI. He scored four runs as the Black Bears won their series with NJIT. This is Sargent’s first career weekly award.

The America East Pitcher of the Week is Binghamton Brandon Peterson of NJIT. His performance in the win over Maine last Sunday earned him this award. He allowed only one baserunner to reach third base in his outing. This is Peterson’s first weekly award.

The America East Rookie of the Week is Binghamton Matt Bolden. He hit .538 (7-for-13) and slugged .692 to help the Bearcats win the road series at UAlbany. He scored six times in the series. Over Bolton’s last 15 games, he is hitting .433 (29-for-67) with 11 RBI. This is his second weekly award.

This weekend UMass Lowell is at Maine, Binghamton is at UMBC, UAlbany is at NJIT. Bryant is off this weekend.