Binghamton scored three times in the top of the 11th inning and reliever Jake Erhard earned his first career win after he threw two scoreless innings, as the visiting Bearcats defeated Canisius 18-15 in extra innings Wednesday evening at the Demske Sports Complex. The win, Binghamton's fourth straight, improved the team to 8-12 on the year while the Golden Griffins fell to 14-19 with the loss.

Canisius trailed 15-12 heading into the bottom of the ninth, but the Blue and Gold forced extra frames after the team pushed three runs across with two outs in its last at-bat. With two down an a runner at first, freshman Ryan Stekl got the rally started for Canisius with a base-hit back up the middle. After senior Connor Panas drew a walk to load the bases, freshman Alex O'Donnell roped a base hit to right that allowed senior Jesse Puscheck and Stekl to score to make it a one-run game at 15-14. Freshman Cyrus Senior knotted the game at 15-15 with a base hit to right that allowed Panas to cross the plate, and the Griffs loaded the bases moments later when freshman Jack Massa was hit-by-pitch. Canisius had a chance to win the game in the ninth, but Binghamton reliever Anthony Grilli got the Bearcats out of a jam by inducing a ground-ball out to end the frame.

After both teams went scoreless in the 10th, Binghamton scored three times in the 11th inning, as the Bearcats took advantage of a Canisius fielding error, two hit batsmen and two walks. Binghamton took the lead for good at 16-15 when junior Kyle Coronel earned a bases-loaded walk and the Bearcats added a pair of insurance runs with RBI-groundouts by Nick Wegmann and Luke Tevlin. Erhard picked up the win in relief after he put the Griffs down in order in the 11th.

Binghamton took an early 5-2 lead after the visiting team scored four times in the top-half of the third, but Canisius rallied for eight runs in the home-half of the inning to hold a 10-5 lead after three innings of play. The Griffs led 12-10 after five innings before Binghamton scored twice in the sixth to knot the game at 12-12, and a single-run in the seventh and a pair of runs in the eighth gave Binghamton a 15-12 lead heading into the ninth.

In a game that lasted four hours, 53 minutes, the teams combined to use 12 pitchers (six each side). Binghamton pounded out 16 hits in the win, while Canisius recorded 11. Junior Brett Siddall was the only Canisius player to record multiple hits in the loss, as he went 2-for-6 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored. Sophomore Jake Lumley drove in three runs for the Griffs while junior Anthony Massicci added a hit, a run scored and two RBI in the losing cause.

Nineteen of the 20 position players that had a plate appearance in the game had at least one hit. Binghamton's Zach Blanden ended the day by going 4-for-7 with a homer, four RBI and two runs scored.

Canisius will return to action April 11, as the team travels to play a MAAC doubleheader at Saint Peter's. The first game of the weekend series in Jersey City, N.J., is set for noon.

Game Notes: This was the eighth all-time meeting between the two programs, with each school holding four wins in the series… Canisius is now 0-2 in extra-inning games this season… The 15 runs scored by the Griffs are the most for the team since May 16, 2014 when the Blue and Gold beat Monmouth 16-4 at home… The game featured a combined 25 walks, nine hit batters and 532 pitches thrown… The game time of 4:53 is the longest for the Griffs since April 22, 2006 when Canisius played a 4:01 minute game against Siena at home.