Northeastern completed a sweep of an America East doubleheader and clinched a spot in next week's four-team conference tournament with a 4-1 win over Binghamton on Friday at Friedman Diamond.
The Huskies improved to 10-10 in America East and 22-21 overall, the first time the team has been above .500 this season. Binghamton fell to 2-18 in the conference and 10-38-1 overall.
The Bearcats jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second with a run off NU starter Brendan Ryan, but the Huskies answered in their half of the inning by scoring a pair of runs with two outs. Arman Sidhu lined a shot off the wall at the 375-foot mark in left-center for a double and then came home when Matt Morizio laced a standup triple into the right-centerfield gap. Leadoff hitter Mike Steinberg delivered Morizio with the go-ahead run when he ripped a shot past third baseman Jay Balback for an RBI single.
Binghamton starter and loser Chris Shores (0-2) walked Tim Bush to start the third inning and Jeff Heriot followed with a two-run homer to the right field bleachers to make it a 4-1 NU edge.
Ryan cruised after NU took the lead, pitching to just one batter over the minimum in the final five innings. He improved to 4-3 on the season with his fourth straight win and fourth straight complete game. Ryan has allowed just three earned runs in his last 28 innings of work.
Pairings for the conference tournament, which begins May 22 in Burlington, Vt., will be announced Saturday evening after the conclusion of this weekend's action. The field is set: defending champion Maine, host Vermont, Stony Brook and NU will compete for the title in a double-elimination, NCAA-format tournament.
• Game 1: Full story & box score
Binghamton 1 (10-38-1,2-18)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Tony Berube 1b............ 3 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
Justin Smucker ss......... 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
Jay Balback 3b............ 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Joe Costello lf........... 3 1 1 0 0 0 4 0
T.J. Kowalchuk cf......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
Kyle Loucks dh............ 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Chris Darling c........... 2 0 1 1 1 0 4 0
Tom Cummings rf........... 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Matt Caputo 2b............ 1 0 0 0 1 0 2 1
Chris Shores p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mark Messina p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals.................... 23 1 4 1 3 1 18 3
Northeastern 4 (22-21,10-10)
Name (Pos) AB R H RBI BB SO PO A
Mike Steinberg dh......... 4 0 1 1 0 0 0 0
Brad Czarnowski lf........ 2 0 0 0 1 1 2 0
Chris Emanuele rf......... 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Tim Bush 3b............... 1 1 0 0 2 0 1 3
Jeff Heriot cf............ 3 1 1 2 0 0 2 0
Miguel Paquette 1b........ 3 0 0 0 0 0 10 1
Omar Pena 2b.............. 2 0 0 0 0 1 3 2
Arman Sidhu ss............ 3 1 2 0 0 0 2 6
Matt Morizio c............ 3 1 1 1 0 1 1 0
Brendan Ryan p............ 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals.................... 24 4 6 4 3 3 21 12
Score by innings: R H E
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Binghamton 010 000 0 - 1 4 0
Northeastern 022 000 - 4 6 0
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DP - Northeastern 2. LOB - Binghamton 4; Northeastern 6.
2B - Sidhu. 3B - Morizio.
HR - Heriot(6).
SB - Emanuele.
Binghamton IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Chris Shores........ 4.0 6 4 4 3 2 18 22
Mark Messina........ 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 6 6
Northeastern IP H R ER BB SO AB BF
Brendan Ryan........ 7.0 4 1 1 3 1 23 26
Win - Ryan 4-3. Loss - Shores 0-2. Save - None.
WP - Shores.
HBP - by Shores (Pena).
Start: 2:25 pm Time: 1:42 Attendance: 75
Play-by-play
Binghamton inning 1
Berube singled to center field. Smucker grounded into double play 3b to 2b
to 1b; Berube out on the play. Balback flied out to 2b. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 1
Steinberg grounded out to ss. Czarnowski lined out to 2b. Emanuele singled
to third base, bunt. Emanuele stole second. Emanuele advanced to third on
a wild pitch. Bush walked. Heriot flied out to cf. 0 runs, 1 hit, 0
errors, 2 LOB.
Binghamton inning 2
Costello singled through the right side. Kowalchuk singled to center field;
Costello advanced to second. Loucks reached on a fielder's choice;
Kowalchuk out at second 1b to ss; Costello advanced to third. Darling
singled to shortstop, RBI; Loucks advanced to second; Costello scored.
Cummings flied out to 1b. Caputo walked; Darling advanced to second; Loucks
advanced to third. Berube reached on a fielder's choice; Caputo out at
second ss to 2b. 1 run, 3 hits, 0 errors, 3 LOB.
Northeastern inning 2
Paquette grounded out to 1b unassisted. Pena struck out swinging. Sidhu
doubled to left center. Morizio tripled to right center, RBI; Sidhu scored.
Steinberg singled through the left side, RBI; Morizio scored. Czarnowski
walked; Steinberg advanced to second. Emanuele flied out to lf. 2 runs, 3
hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Binghamton inning 3
Smucker grounded out to ss. Balback flied out to cf. Costello grounded out
to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 3
Bush walked. Heriot homered to right field, 2 RBI; Bush scored. Paquette
lined out to cf. Pena hit by pitch. Sidhu singled up the middle; Pena
advanced to third. Morizio flied out to ss. Steinberg fouled out to c. 2
runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 LOB.
Binghamton inning 4
Kowalchuk flied out to cf. Loucks flied out to lf. Darling grounded out to
3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 4
Czarnowski struck out looking. Emanuele grounded out to ss. Bush flied out
to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Binghamton inning 5
Cummings walked. Caputo grounded into double play 2b to ss to 1b; Cummings
out on the play. Berube grounded out to ss. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0
LOB.
Northeastern inning 5
Messina to p for Shores. Heriot grounded out to 2b. Paquette grounded out
to 1b unassisted. Pena flied out to lf. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Binghamton inning 6
Smucker flied out to lf. Balback grounded out to ss. Costello popped up to
1b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Northeastern inning 6
Sidhu flied out to lf. Morizio struck out swinging. Steinberg flied out to
2b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 0 LOB.
Binghamton inning 7
Kowalchuk grounded out to 3b. Loucks struck out swinging. Darling walked.
Cummings lined out to 3b. 0 runs, 0 hits, 0 errors, 1 LOB.
