Binghamton Heading to the NCAA Baseball Tournament

Read Time:2 Minute, 0 Second

It would take nine total games and an extra day because of the weather. But for the sixth time in the last 16 years, and the second time in the last four years, the Binghamton Bearcats (29-24) are heading to the NCAA Baseball Tournament. They will be a #4 seed and play in the Athens, Georgia region. On Friday, they will face the #1 seed Georgia Bulldogs from the Southeastern Conference.

The Bearcats will head to Georgia winners of seven of their last nine games. They got to the tournament by playing 20 innings of baseball on Sunday afternoon and needed one victory to claim the title. They would lose game 1 to Bryant by a 7-3 score. Game two found them down 2-0 after just a couple of innings. They would take the lead on a Freddy Forgione HR in the middle innings. After the Bulldogs tied the game late, Binghamton would win the game and the title with an 11th-inning sac-fly, 6-5. Third baseman Devan Bade was named the tournament’s most outstanding player, hitting .545 with 12 hits, which tied a league record; he also had 12 RBI.

The Georgia Bulldogs are 42-15 and are making their 15th tournament appearance. In their previous 14 trips, they have an overall record of 55-36, including 36-20 in regional play. They have won seven regional championships and four super regional titles. They have made six trips to Omahna, and this will be the second straight year and the eighth time in program history that the Bulldogs will be hosting a regional. At #7, Georgia is a top-8 seed for the second consecutive year, and the seventh time in school history. The Bulldogs are hoping to get two key members of their team back for Friday. Robbie Burnett (.318 BA, 20 HR, 66 RBI) and Ryland Zaborowski (.375 BA, 16 HR, 60 RBI) could be in the lineup for the Binghamton game. The team is coached by Wes Johnson in his third year with the program.

These two programs have met before. In 2014 in Athens, Georgia swept a three-game series from the Bearcats. The winner of the Athens regional will meet the winner of the Oxford, Miss. regional in the super regionals. The other two schools that will be in Georgia are Oklahoma State (28-23) and Duke (37-19).