Baseball readies for NCAA test vs. No. 2 Stanford

STANFORD, Calif. – Binghamton baseball makes its fifth NCAA Regional appearance – fourth in the last nine years – when the fourth-seeded Bearcats (22-28) face No. 2 national seed and regional host Stanford (41-14) Friday afternoon at Sunken Diamond. The teams will square off at 1 pm local (4 pm EST) in a game broadcast on ESPN +. The other Day 1 game pits second-seeded and No. 13 Texas State against third-seeded and No. 20 UC Santa Barbara. The double-elimination event continues on Saturday and Sunday.

The Bearcats have won five in a row and six of their last seven, capped with a 3-0 run at the America East tournament last weekend in Maine. Head coach Tim Sinicki‘s squad outscored opponents 35-11 and scored runs in 16 of 24 innings.

Senior shortstop Jake Evans enters the NCAA Regional with a school-record 23-game hit streak. During the streak, which has spanned more than six weeks, Evans is hitting .482 with 13 multi-hit games and 15 RBI. He was named the America East Championship Most Outstanding Player. Freshman catcher Evin Sullivan, the America East Rookie of the Year, is also on a hot streak. In his last 18 games, Sullivan is batting .431 with 23 RBI. He was named to the America East All-Championship team after totaling six hits and seven RBI in the three games.

Junior left-hander Thomas Babalis (4-6, 5.06 ERA) will get the start for the Bearcats, who will face a Pac-12 team for the first time in program history.

Binghamton’s starting lineup includes four freshmen and six underclassmen – the youngest lineup of any of the Stanford Regional teams.

Stanford, the Pac-12 regular season and tournament champion, is riding a 16-game win streak and has won 19 of its last 21. The Cardinal are making their 34th appearance in the NCAA Regionals and have a 72-20 (.783) postseason record on their home field. The program captured national championships in 1987 and 1988 and have made 17 College World Series appearances, including last spring. The team has a .302 batting average and a sparkling 3.82 pitching ERA.

The Cardinal will send sophomore right-hander Joey Dixon (6-3, 3.10 ERA) to the hill to face the Bearcats.

Stanford will be the second-highest nationally-ranked team Binghamton has faced, topped only by BU’s NCAA opener at No. 1 Texas A&M in 2016 (a 4-2 loss).

STANFORD REGIONAL SCHEDULE
Friday, June 3
4 pm ET – GM1: # 1 Stanford (41-14) vs. No. 4 Binghamton (22-28), ESPN +
9 pm ET – GM2: # 2 Texas State (45-12) vs. No. 3 UC Santa Barbara (43-12), ESPN +

Saturday, June 4
4 pm ET – G3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
10 pm ET – G4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winners

Sunday, June 5
4 pm ET – GM5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser
9 pm ET – GM6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner

Monday, June 6
TBA – G7: Game 4 Winner Vs. Game 5 Winner (if necessary)