For Immediate Release: April 15, 2006
Contact: John Hartrick (hartrick@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6800

Binghamton baseball splits twinbill with UMBC, losing 6-5 before winning 5-1
Van Gorder earns third win of season in nightcap; Retrievers seize opener in final frame

Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

VESTAL, N.Y. - Junior pitcher Mike Van Gorder (Vestal, N.Y.) scattered five hits over seven innings for his third win of the season, giving Binghamton (15-11-1, 4-2 AE) a 5-1 win and a doubleheader split with visiting UMBC (11-20, 1-5 AE) Saturday afternoon at Varsity Field. The Retrievers won the opener 6-5 in dramatic fashion with a two-out, two-strike, three-run home run in the seventh inning.

Van Gorder (3-0) allowed five hits and one run in notching his second complete game of the spring. He struck out six and walked none. Binghamton gave him run support with two tallies in the first, one in the third and two more in the fifth inning.

Junior first baseman Brendon Hitchcock (Laceyville, Pa.) went 2-for-2 with a solo home run and two runs scored, and junior shortstop Justin Smucker (Bird-in-Hand, Pa.) went 2-for-3 with an RBI double. Junior right fielder Jeff Monaco (Binghamton, N.Y.) added his team-high 25th RBI with a first-inning single.

In the opener, BU was on the verge of a win, holding a 5-3 lead with two outs in the seventh inning. With two on and two out, Retrievers left fielder Joe Fowler ripped an 0-2 pitch from Jarrod Rampey over the right field fence for the game-winning three-run homer. Binghamton went down in order in the bottom of the inning.

Before departing prior to the seventh, sophomore starter Zach Groh (Reading, Pa.) extended his string of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run to 30 innings. Groh, who ranks second in the nation in ERA, scattered five hits over six innings. He had his scoreless innings snapped at 24 when UMBC plated three unearned runs in the fifth inning to cut their deficit to 4-3. Groh lowered his ERA to 0.51 in 35 innings of work this spring - the lowest of any starter in the entire country.

Junior designated hitter Jeff Wertepny (Des Plaines, Ill.) went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI singles and junior catcher Pat Haughie (St. James, N.Y.) went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Binghamton took a 4-0 lead with four runs in the fourth inning and added their final run in the sixth.

The Bearcats next host Canisius in a non-conference doubleheader Tuesday beginning at 2 p.m.