Sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce the way you want it. This was the case yesterday afternoon, as the baseball team extended its losing streak to four games, dropping an 8-3 decision to Binghamton (10-8-1 ) at Varsity Field in Vestal, N.Y. Four Binghamton pitchers combined to throw a three-hitter against the Red (5-13, 1-3 Ivy) amidst brutal conditions. The loss was the Red’s eighth in the last nine games.
“You’ve got to give them credit,” said head coach Tom Ford. “Their pitchers pitched like they did and they didn’t even walk anybody. Then again, we have to do a better job of being more aggressive and of getting on base. We have to find a way to make more opportunities for ourselves.”
Freshman Brant McKown, classmate Kyle Groth and senior catcher William Pauly were the only Red players to record a hit in the contest, with McKown and Pauly each notching doubles.
Junior Tom Laughlin dropped to 0-2 on the season after receiving the loss. Sophomore Walker Toma and junior Kaleb Hutchinson closed out the game for the Red, with each pitcher seeing four and one innings of work, respectively.
Binghamton’s Jarrod Rampey and David Lind pitched the first three innings for the Bearcats before Ron Miller was given the ball. Miller was masterful as he pitched five innings, only giving up one hit while striking out five Red batters. The transfer from Monroe Community College surrendered a single to the first batter he saw, Groth, but then retired the sides in order in the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
Binghamton’s Justin Smucker was the catalyst for the offense out of the leadoff spot, as he went 3-for-5 with a triple, two RBIs and two runs scored. Binghamton’s top-4 hitters accounted for most of the damage, as they were responsible for seven of the team’s eight hits and six of the team’s RBIs.
The Bearcats jumped on the Red early, scoring in the bottom tom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. After a scoreless second, the Red looked as if it would pull away after a three-run error-filled third gave the Red the lead.
Freshman right fielder Domenic DiRicco stole second base after reaching on an error to start the threat and freshman Scott Hardinger then reached base after Bearcat third baseman Ryan James committed an error of his own.
DiRicco eventually scored on Pauly’s double, tying the game at one. Later in the inning, Hardinger scored on senior Seth Gordon’s fielder’s choice while McKown then doubled to right center, scoring Pauly to give the Red it’s largest and only lead of the game.
The lead was short lived as the Bearcats matched the Red’s offensive output in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs, with two of them coming off first baseman Brendon Hitchcock’s one-out RBI single.
“That was the game right there,” Ford said. “We bunched a couple of hits there to score some runs and I thought we were on a roll. Next thing you know we dropped a fly ball and they strung together a couple of hits. We just weren’t able to keep them down after we had gained momentum.”
Binghamton added insurance runs in the fifth and seventh innings, and then added two more in the eighth, cementing the victory.
Binghamton committed two errors while the Red committed four.
“Midweek or league game, you still need to make plays,” Ford said. “We’re not keeping things clean. There isn’t much you can do except just keep working at it and keep it to a minimum.”
Archived article by Tim Kuhls
Sun Assistant Sports Editor