By Trevor Dugan
The Albany baseball team won two out of three in Binghamton this weekend, raising their win total to 14 on the season. This was the second conference series victory of the year for the Great Danes.
The series was originally meant to be played in Albany but was moved to Binghamton due to inclement weather in the capital region.
The two schools played twice on Saturday, with Albany coming out on top in both games. They won the first game 7-3 on the strength of Micahel Whalen’s bat. Albany scored a run apiece in each of the first three innings. After Binghamton tied things at three in the fifth inning, the Great Danes rallied for four runs in the sixth, which propelled them to victory. Whalen went 3-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
Ray Weber earned the win on the mound, pitching five and two-thirds innings while striking out eight. Will Binder, John Daly, and Mike Prisco all had an RBI each in game one.
The Great Danes took game two with the help of some timely hitting, defeating the Bearcats 7-6. UAlbany got on the board first, plating three runs in the third inning thanks to a pair of singles from Binder and Brad Malm. By the top of the eighth Albany was up 4-0, but the Bearcats began clawing their way back, plating three runs in the inning. After Albany scored twice more in the next inning, Binghamton tied it at six in the ninth on a three-run shot by Andrew Tan.
In the bottom of the ninth, the bases were loaded when Whalen strode to the plate. With a chance to be the hero, he came through with a walk-off single, scoring Josh Loeffler and giving Albany a 7-6 victory.
Binder went 3-5 with an RBI, and Johnny Marti was 2-3 with an RBI and a run scored. Starting pitcher Cregg Sherrer went seven and two-thirds, allowing three runs. The win went to relief pitcher Rob Manetta.
Game three of the doubleheader was played on Sunday. Binghamton was able to salvage a much-needed win, winning 7-1. Albany used five different pitchers, with all of them allowing at least one run except for Chase Carroll. He went two and two-thirds scoreless for the Great Danes.
The offense struggled mightily, with the Great Danes striking out 14 times. Carson Dunkel hit a solo homer for the team’s only run of the day. The Bearcats got a solid performance from starting pitcher Ryan Bryggmann. He pitched five shutout innings and struck out 7 while allowing only three hits.
Next weekend the Great Danes will travel to Long Island to take on the rival Stony Brook Seawolves. Their three-game set will kick off on Friday at 3 PM on the road at Joe Nathan Field