by Julian Guevara
The Binghamton Bearcats have not had their season start out how they originally envisioned it. BU (3-9) struggled to produce offense in non-conference play, being that they were outscored, 66-41, in those 12 games.
“I think what has happened over the years is we have developed a great rivalry,” said Binghamton baseball head coach Tim Sinicki. “Being that we are both SUNY schools, have had success and have a tremendous amount of respect for each other, so typically it’s a very good series and one that we always look forward to.”
They are looking to turn things around this weekend, as they will be opening up conference play at Stony Brook. The Seawolves (7-7) were off to a hot start, but went on to get swept at home against Wagner. Before the Wagner series they only had one loss, discounting the three game sweep down in Gainesville, Florida against the number one team in the country at the moment.
Binghamton, however, has been massively successful when it comes to playing in conference. They have won the America East conference regular season title the past two years, going a combined 34-9 over that span.
“We just have to continue to do what we feel like we do best,” Sinicki said. “Hopefully after four weeks of non-conference games we’ll be a little sharper this weekend.”
This, of course, makes no difference to the Seawolves lineup who is hungry for revenge and will be facing a pitching staff that is currently allowing 5.27 earned runs a game. Neither team has forgotten last season. Binghamton was set to arrive in Stony Brook and take home the regular season title, needing just one win. The Seawolves stood their ground and defeated the Bearcats, 17-9 and 4-1.
These two impressive programs have emerged as real rivals in the AE conference over the past decade. They have won 10 out of the past 11 regular season titles with Binghamton winning six of them and Stony Brook taking four.
“It’s a long season and it’s a game of repetition,” Sinicki said. “So hopefully as we continue to get more reps and get on the field more often things will shape up for us.”
SBU’s pitching, also, has not been up to par so far. The Seawolves’ staff is currently allowing 5.32 runs a game, which is good news for Binghamton’s sluggers. Junior outfielder Anthony Meduri and senior catcher Jason Agresti are currently hitting .324 and .366 respectively. The only problem is that the team as a whole is still hitting just .218, despite the fact that Meduri and Agresti have been swinging hot bats.
The Bearcats’ lone Long Islander, redshirt sophomore outfielder Daniel Franchi, has gotten out to a slow start, but is looking forward to opening up conference play not too far from his hometown, Center Moriches.
“It means a lot to me,” Franchi said. ”Being able to play in front of my friends and family who don’t get to see me play that often anymore is very special to me.”
As a freshman he was a part of Binghamton’s conference tournament championship team that went on to play Texas A&M in the NCAA Regionals. Franchi describes this experience as, “One of the greatest places I’ve ever played at, the atmosphere was unreal and it will be very hard to top that.” Franchi added.
The speedy outfielder is coming off a redshirt season. He did say that his approach to the plate is slightly different now, but will mostly be the same with some minor tweaks.
This three game series is set to kick off Saturday March 17. First pitch is scheduled for noon with a double-header beginning at noon on Sunday.
