LEXINGTON, Va. – Binghamton Bearcat ace Jack Rogalla allowed only two hits over seven innings, helping his team defeat the VMI Keydets 10-2 in non-conference baseball action Saturday afternoon at Gray-Minor Stadium. The contest was the opening game of a doubleheader that started a three-game weekend series between the clubs.
Binghamton (4-7) took control of the contest in the fifth inning, as with a 1-0 lead and one out, Bill Bereszniewicz reached on an error by shortstop Tanner Dofflemyer. He then stole second and after two walks loaded the bases, Reed Gamache drove home two runs with a double to right center. Brian Ruby then followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-0, BU, and although VMI (7-5) scored twice in the bottom of the inning, the Bearcats scored the game's final six runs to take the series opener.
Offensively, Gamache led all players by going 3 for 5 with four RBI. On the mound, Rogalla (2-1) allowed just two runs to take the victory, while Reed Garrett (2-1) surrendered six runs, four earned, in five-plus innings. The earned runs were the first Garrett had surrendered this season, after opening 2014 with 21 1/3 consecutive innings without giving up an earned tally. He walked six and struck out just one.
BU took a 1-0 lead in the second, as Jake Thomas led off with a walk. Two outs later, John Howell doubled him home for the game's first run and the Bearcats tacked on three more in the fifth. VMI answered in the bottom half, however, when David Geary led off with a walk. Matt Winn followed with a single to center that got under the glove of Bereszniewicz, allowing Geary to come all the way around to score and make it 4-1, Binghamton. Winn would score on a Dofflemyer grounder later in the inning to make it 4-2, but VMI would get no closer.
Binghamton scored two more in the sixth, as Nick Pancerella led off with a walk. David Schanz followed with a fly ball to right that appeared to be lost in the afternoon high sky and went for a double. Zach Blanden then laced a single to center, scoring a run and ending Garrett's night. A sacrifice fly by Bereszniewicz pushed across an additional score, making it 6-2.
A second Bereszniewicz sacrifice fly, this one coming in the seventh, made it 7-2, and Binghamton tacked on three runs in the ninth inning to account for the final margin.
In the loss, Brandon Angus' nine-game hitting streak came to an end as he went 0 for 4.
