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Binghamton junior infielder Jordon Smucker was named the America East Baseball Player of the Week, the conference announced March 26. Smucker hit .533 and drove in three runs as the Bearcats won three of four games over the weekend.

He went 3-for-5 with two RBI in Binghamton’s game-2 win and scored three runs in the game-3 win. Along the way, Smucker extended his current hit streak to eight games. He has a team-high 11 RBI in his first 14 games of the spring.

On March 25, the Bearcats (6-8) split a twinbill at Lehigh (6-16-1), winning the opener 10-4 before falling in the nightcap 5-4 in 10 innings. The Bearcats took three of four against the host Mountain Hawks and have now won six of their last eight games.

In game one, Binghamton shook off a 4-0 deficit with six runs in the fourth inning, three in the fifth and one more in the sixth to score 10 unanswered runs. Binghamton outhit Lehigh 11-10 and might have added additional runs if not for 10 runners left stranded in the seven-inning contest.

Trailing 4-0 after Lehigh tallied twice in the first and second innings, Binghamton struck for six runs on five hits in the fourth inning. Freshman designated hitter Jake Thomas smacked a two-run single up the middle and junior catcher Mike Danaher and freshman right fielder Zach Blanden added RBI singles. Sophomore center fielder Bill Bereszniewicz brought in another run with sacrifice fly. An error accounted for the other run.

Up 6-4, Binghamton plated three more in the fifth inning on three hits and another Lehigh error. Blanden hit an RBI single and Thomas drew a bases-loaded walk for another RBI. With the bases loaded, senior first baseman Dave Ciocchi lined out to left field to prevent an even bigger inning.

Blanden knocked in his third run of the game with an RBI single in the sixth for the final 10-4 score.

Junior Jake Lambert came back after the shaky start to earn his first win of the season. After allowing four runs in the first two frames, Lambert settled down and pitched four scoreless innings with only three additional hits allowed. Sophomore Mark Palumbo tossed a hitless seventh to close out the win.

Blanden went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI. Thomas also drove in three runs. Bereszniewicz went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Smucker went 2-for-3 with three runs scored.

The nightcap was a see-saw affair with the score tied at 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4 before the Mountain Hawks plated the winning run with two out in the bottom of the 10th inning. Binghamton jumped ahead 2-0 with single runs in the second and third innings before Lehigh tied it with two in the fourth. The Bearcats pushed ahead with a run in the fifth but Lehigh tied it in their half of the inning.

The hosts then went ahead 4-3 with a run in the eighth before Binghamton forced extra innings with a tying run in the ninth. An outfield error put freshman Scott Hagan on second base to start the inning. A Blanden single moved him to third and Bereszniewicz brought Hagan home with the tying run on a sacrifice fly to left field.

But Lehigh got an infield single to lead off the 10th and after a foul out and fielder’s choice out, a stolen base put the winning run in scoring position at second. A passed ball brought the runner to third, where he scored on an RBI single.

Sophomore starter Jack Rogalla went five innings but didn’t factor in the decision. He scattered six hits and three runs. Freshman reliever Mike Urbanski was solid in middle relief, going three innings and allowing one hit and no earned runs. Urbanski struck out three and walked one.

Blanden went 2-for-4 to finish an excellent weekend that saw him hit .462 (6-for-13) with four RBI in the four games.