Endicott, N.Y. ? Dave Ciocchi homered and Kyle Klee drove in three runs to lead top-seed Binghamton to a come-from-behind 11-7 victory over UAlbany in the second round of the America East Conference Baseball Tournament on Friday, May 22 at Pete Sylvester Field. The Great Danes will meet Vermont in an elimination game on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. The Catamounts advanced through the losers' bracket with a 13-11 triumph over Stony Brook earlier in the day.
Binghamton (28-20) took an 8-7 lead in the fifth by taking advantage of a relief pitcher's throwing error. UAlbany's David Noble took over for starter Zach Kraham and promptly hit a batter and issued a walk. Shortstop Jeff Abrams chased Noble with a RBI single to left field. Binghamton catcher C.J. Lukaszewski then greeted Cory Warrings, the second reliever of the inning, with a bunt to the right of the mound. Warrings threw wide to home plate allowing Joe Charron to score the tying run. Warrings later sailed a wild pitch inside the pushed Abrams across with the third run of the frame.
The Bearcats, who have captured three consecutive America East regular-season titles but are still searching for their first tournament championship, added a single run in the sixth on first baseman Ciocchi's single. Binghamton scored a pair in the seventh. Abrams singled and later scored when first baseman Mike Tirri failed to handle an infielder's throw. Klee's slow roller over the mound pushed across another run for an 11-7 advantage.
“We didn't take care of the baseball and made it difficult on ourselves,” said UAlbany coach Jon Mueller, whose squad had built a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning. “It was mandatory that we not give them free passes. They are a good team and didn't finish first by mistake.”
The Great Danes put together a three-run rally in the top of the first. Brendan Rowland lined a triple into the left-field corner that chased home Gary Pitcheralle. Ryan Gugel, who had three hits, doubled twice and scored twice, followed with a RBI single, going the opposite way through the left side of the infield. Gugel would later come home on Pete Eichner's ground ball to second.
The Bearcats cut the deficit to 3-1 in bottom of the inning when Corey Taylor delivered a two-out, run-scoring single up the middle. UAlbany (25-30-1) plated four runs in the fourth that were aided by pitcher Mike Augliera's throwing error. After Tirri singled, Augliera threw Ralph Keppler's sacrifice wide of second base to put runners on the corners with no outs. Sean Donovan's ground out scored the first run, before Pitcheralle dumped a RBI single into short right center. Pitcheralle, who totaled three hits and two runs, reached home when Gugel lined a double up against the fence into the left-field gap. Dave West completed the uprising with a hard smash to left of third baseman that produced another run.
Trailing 7-1, Binghamton regrouped by scoring four times in its next at-bat. Ciocchi led off the inning with a home run over the left-center field fence, his fifth of the season. Jim Calderone sliced the lead to 7-3 with a RBI single to the right of the second-base bag. Klee added a two-run single to center field with two outs.
Augliera, a freshman right-hander, allowed six hits and struck out five in a 5.1 innings of relief work. He improved to 5-3 on the mound, while teammate Morgan Smith went 2.1 innings to earn his first saves of the season. The Bearcats have won their opening two games in conference postseason play for the first time.
-agate-
America East Conference Tournament ? Second Round
UAlbany (25-30-1) 300 400 000 - 7 11 6
Binghamton (28-20) 100 431 20x - 11 11 4
Zach Kraham, David Noble (5), Cory Warrings (5), Sean Gregory (6), Alexander Beaulieu (8) and Ralph Keppler.
James Giulietti, Mike Augliera (2), Morgan Smith (7) and C.J. Lukaszewski.
Binghamton 11, UAlbany 7 (May 22, 2009)
Box Score
Binghamton University Baseball
Albany at Binghamton Univ.
May 22, 2009 at Endicott, N.Y. (Pete Sylvester Field)
Albany 7 (25-30-1)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Donovan, S. ss........... 3 0 0 1 2 0 1 1 1
Pitcheralle lf........... 5 2 3 1 0 1 3 0 3
Rowland, B. rf........... 5 1 1 1 0 1 2 0 0
Gugel, R. dh............. 4 2 3 2 0 0 0 0 3
West, D. cf.............. 5 0 2 1 0 2 2 0 1
Eichner, P. 3b........... 4 0 0 1 1 1 3 1 1
Crean, K. 2b............. 5 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1
Tirri, M. 1b............. 5 1 1 0 0 0 6 0 0
Keppler, R. c............ 1 1 1 0 1 0 6 2 0
Kraham, Z. p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Noble, D. p............. 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Warrings, C. p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gregory, S. p........... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Beaulieu, A. p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 37 7 11 7 4 5 24 9 10
Binghamton Univ. 11 (28-20)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
------------------------------------------------------
Calderone, Jim 2b........ 3 2 2 1 2 0 1 6 0
Dunn, Henry cf........... 4 1 0 0 0 2 3 0 0
Klee, Kyle 3b............ 5 0 2 3 0 0 2 3 2
Taylor, Corey lf......... 5 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 4
Ciocchi, Dave 1b......... 4 2 2 2 0 0 11 0 1
Charron, Joe dh.......... 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Jacobi, Ken ph.......... 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Bregartner, Peter rf..... 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 0
Abrams, Jeff ss.......... 5 2 2 1 0 2 2 4 1
Lukaszewski, C.J. c...... 3 1 1 0 0 0 6 1 1
Giulietti, James p....... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Augliera, Mike p........ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Smith, Morgan p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 33 11 11 8 5 5 27 14 9
Score by Innings R H E
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Albany.............. 300 400 000 - 7 11 6
Binghamton Univ..... 100 431 20X - 11 11 4
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E - Donovan, S.; Pitcheralle; Tirri, M.; Warrings, C.; Gregory, S. 2;
Taylor; Abrams; Lukaszewski; Augliera. DP - Binghamton 1. LOB - ALBANY 10;
Binghamton 9. 2B - Gugel, R. 2; Taylor. 3B - Rowland, B.. HR - Ciocchi(5).
HBP - Gugel, R.; Keppler, R.; Dunn; Ciocchi; Bregartner. SH - Keppler, R.;
Charron; Bregartner; Lukaszewski. SB - Keppler, R.; Calderone; Bregartner.
CS - Gugel, R..
Albany IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Kraham, Z........... 4.0 5 5 1 3 3 18 22 91
Noble, D............ 0.1 1 3 1 1 0 1 4 17
Warrings, C......... 0.2 1 0 0 1 1 3 4 13
Gregory, S.......... 2.0 4 3 1 0 0 8 10 25
Beaulieu, A......... 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 3 4 19
Binghamton Univ. IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
--------------------------------------------------
Giulietti, James.... 1.1 5 3 3 1 0 9 11 54
Augliera, Mike...... 5.1 6 4 1 1 5 23 25 70
Smith, Morgan....... 2.1 0 0 0 2 0 5 8 34
Win - Augliera (5-3). Loss - Noble, D. (0-2). Save - Smith, Mo. (1).
WP - Warrings, C.; Giulietti. HBP - by Giulietti (Keppler, R.); by Kraham, Z.
(Dunn); by Noble, D. (Ciocchi); by Smith, Mo. (Gugel, R.); by Beaulieu, A.
(Bregartner). PB - Keppler, R.. Pitches/strikes: Kraham, Z. 91/51; Noble, D.
17/10; Warrings, C. 13/8; Gregory, S. 25/19; Beaulieu, A. 19/10; Giulietti
54/34; Augliera 70/52; Smith, Mo. 34/17.
Umpires - HP: Rob Robinson 1B: Mike Sadowski 2B: Warren Bumpus 3B: Carmen
Perrotti Start: 8 p.m. Time: 3:18 Attendance: 455
