FARMVILLE, Va. – Reigning America East Freshman of the Year Thomas Babalis spun a six-inning gem, and America East powerhouse Binghamton rode an early nine-run cushion to outlast Longwood 10-8 in the series opener on a cold and windy Friday afternoon at Buddy Bolding Stadium.
 
Despite the 47-degree temperature and winds gusting up to 10 miles per hour, Babalis (1-1) was unflappable in his first five shutout frames against a Longwood offense that entered the game averaging 5.0 runs and 9.0 hits per game. The 6-1 right-hander carried a shutout into the top of the sixth before Longwood (2-8) awakened with eight runs in the final four frames.
 
Longwood sophomore center fielder Cullan Wadsworth sparked the Lancers' late comeback with an RBI triple and an RBI double during that end-game surge and finished 3-for-4 while crossing the plate three times. His last knock was a two-out RBI double off the right-field wall that cut the lead to 10-7, and he came around to score one at bat later when his sophomore classmate Hunter Gilliam followed with an RBI triple off the right field wall.
 
After facing a 9-0 deficit to start the game, Longwood brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth in the form of pinch-hitter Tyler Mahone, but Binghamton (1-6) reliever Ryan Bryggman snagged a comebacker to the mound and flipped it to first base to strand Gilliam and end the Longwood rally.
 
Along with Wadsworth's 3-for-4 day, Gilliam finished 3-for-5 with three RBI, a double and a triple, and fellow sophomore Michael Peterson continued his torrid pace by drawing three walks from the nine-hole and coming around to score three times.
 
However, along with Babalis' strong start, Binghamton's early outburst proved too much for Longwood to overcome. Binghamton's all-conference second baseman Alex Baratta led that effort with five RBI and a 4-for-4 effort at the plate, while catcher Connor Aoki and shortstop Jake Evans also delivered multiple knocks and scored twice each.
 
The bulk of Binghamton's damage came in the first third of the game before Longwood junior newcomer Colton Hutt took over on the mound in the fourth and blanked the Bearcats over the next two frames. In his fourth appearance of the season, Hutt scattered four hits and struck out two without issuing a walk before handing the ball to senior Alec Abadalah, who carried that momentum by retiring the side in order in the sixth.
 
However, Longwood's offense struggled to string anything together against Babalis until the bottom of the sixth when Wadsworth tagged an RBI triple into the right field corner that drove in Peterson, and Gilliam followed with an RBI double that drove in Wadsworth.
 
That outburst chased Babalis, and Longwood leveraged his exit into an end-of-game rally against the Bearcat bullpen. The eighth inning saw the Lancers drive in four runs during an inning in which they loaded the bases with no outs and plated runners on a Gilliam single, a passed ball, a wild pitch and a Drayven Kowalski groundout.
 
Abdalah fed off that rally and made quick work of Binghamton in the ninth by retiring the side in order, setting the stage for a bottom-of-the-ninth comeback with Longwood facing a 10-6 deficit. Peterson reached base for the fourth time when he was hit by a pitch and then scored all the way from first base when Wadsworth cranked a long double off the right-field wall.
 
Gilliam kept the momentum going with a triple off the left-center field wall in Longwood's next at bat to score Wadsworth, but Bryggman, who took over in the top of the eighth, finally stopped the bleeding by gloving Mahone's ground ball back to the mound.
 
Longwood will have a chance to even the series in game two Saturday, whose first pitch is slated for noon. The Lancers will start redshirt sophomore right-hander Maceo Campbell opposite Binghamton right-handed sophomore Jack Collins.
 
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