BALTIMORE—The UMBC baseball team opened America East play Saturday, but fell to Binghamton in a doubleheader, 5-2 and 6-1, at Baseball Factory Field. With the losses, the Retrievers fell to 4-19 (0-2 America East), while the Bearcats improved to 9-15 (2-0 AE).
In the first game with the game tied at 1, Binghamton struck for four runs on its way to a 5-2 win.
In the bottom of the seventh, junior Curtis Schickner (East Windsor, N.J./Lawrenceville Prep) and senior Rick Phillips(Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) singled before freshman Bryan Perlmutter (Hillside, N.J./Pasack Valley) and seniorCasey Medairy (Elkridge, Md./Howard) walked to score Schickner.
In the third, Medairy scored on a sacrifice fly by junior Michael Pesci (Parsippany, N.J./DePaul Catholic).
Sophomore starter Mike Mitchell (Fairfax Va./Paul VI Catholic/Frederick CC) (0-5) pitched a complete game, striking out four with five runs allowed.
Binghamton starter James Giulietti (2-4) pitched a pitched six innings with one run allowed and seven strikeouts. Zach Juliano came on for the last three outs to earn his second save.
In the second game, the Bearcats struck for three unearned runs in the first inning on their way to a 6-1 win.
Junior Max Himmelstein (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown) doubled down the left field line before scoring on a redshirt freshman D.J. Ream (Columbia, Pa./Hempfield) single down the right field line for the Retrievers only run.
Junior starter Sean Swetnam (Greenbelt, Md./Eleanor Roosevelt/George Mason) struck out three in five innings of work, allowing two earned runs. Junior Luke DiBlasi (Pleasant Valley, N.Y./Arlington) allowed just one run in three innings of work, while freshman Jon Cohn(Scottsdale, Ariz./Notre Dame Prep) pitched a perfect ninth.
Binghamton starter Mike Augliera (4-2) pitched eight innings, allowing one run, while striking out seven to earn the win.
Jeff Skelhorne-Gross led the Bearcats with five RBI between the two contests.
Schickner ended up with four hits on the day, including 3-for-3 in the first game.
The two teams conclude their three-game series Sunday at 1 p.m.
