Team/individual accomplishments summer 2019

Baseball hosts conference championship, finishes runnerup

In front of a facility-record 954 fans, Binghamton baseball (26-24) battled top-seeded Stony Brook (31-21) to the wire in a 7-5 America East Championship game defeat Saturday afternoon, May 25, at the Bearcats Baseball Complex. The runner up finish was Binghamton’s third in program history, to go with four first-place trophies.

Baseball pitcher Anderson taken by Texas Rangers in MLB Draft

Binghamton junior right-handed pitcher Ben Anderson got the call early on Day 3 of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft and will begin his professional career with Texas. The Rangers took Anderson in Wednesday’s 13th round (385th pick of draft - out of 1,217 total).

Anderson becomes Binghamton’s ninth MLB Draft selection in the last eight years and the fourth Bearcat pitcher taken in the last four years. He is the 15th player in program history taken and is Binghamton’s highest pitching selection in the last seven years.

“I’m excited to start this new journey and owe a lot to the players and coaches of Binghamton University for where I am today,” Anderson said.

Six baseball players honored as America East all-stars

Binghamton baseball had six players honored and took home half of the major awards presented at the America East postseason banquet, held Tuesday night, May 21, in the Events Center. On the eve of the six-team tournament, the host Bearcats had the most major award winners and tied for the most all-conference selections of any team.

Earning accolades for Binghamton were Ben Anderson, Thomas Babalis, Alex Baratta, Shane Marshall, Nick Gallagher and Sean Trenholm.

Three men’s lacrosse players honored by America East

Binghamton men’s lacrosse players Kevin Winkoff, Drew Furlong and Dan Mottes were honored by the America East at the men’s lacrosse championship banquet Wednesday evening, May 1. Winkoff and Furlong were named to the America East All-Rookie team while Mottes was named All-Academic team for the second consecutive season.

Women’s lacrosse freshman honored by America East

Binghamton women’s lacrosse freshman Emily Masera was honored by the America East at the women’s lacrosse championship banquet Wednesday night, May 1. Masera was named to the All-Rookie team.

“We’re extremely excited for Emily and the recognition as one of the top rookies in the America East,” head coach Stephanie Allen said. “She was able to step in a take on a large role for us offensively this year — handling it with great poise and maturity. We are excited for what’s to come in her career at Binghamton. Congratulations to Emily and all the other All-Conference honorees!”

Softball lands four players on all-conference squads

Sophomore shortstop Makayla Alvarez, sophomore third baseman Sarah Benn, freshman second baseman Marissa Braito and freshman pitcher Morgan Bienkowski have all received all-conference honors from the America East for the 2019 softball season. The announcement was made Tuesday night, May 7, at the America East Pre-Tournament Banquet in Hartford.

Alvarez, Braito and Benn were named to the second team while Braito joined Bienkowski on the All-Rookie Team. Benn was also named to the conference’s All-Academic Team.

“It’s nice to see these players be recognized for the work they have put in both on the field and in the classroom,” head coach Michelle Johnston said. “We have a lot of young players winning awards and we look forward to see how they will continue to improve.”

Softball places fourth at America East tournament

Maria Moccio drove in the winning run on an infield single in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting UMass Lowell (28-19) to a 5-4 in over Binghamton (19-29) in an America East Tournament elimination game on Friday afternoon, May 10, at the Hartford Softball Field. With the loss, the Bearcats finish in fourth place for the event after entering the week as the No. 6 seed.

Men’s basketball guard Sessoms named Freshman All-American

Binghamton freshman basketball guard Sam Sessoms earned a prestigious postseason honor. Sessoms was named to the CollegeInsider.com Kyle Macy Freshman All-America Team, the organization announced on Monday, April 1. He is one of 30 freshmen across the country selected to the team, which will then lead to the Freshman of the Year choice, revealed at the Final Four in Minneapolis.

The Kyle Macy award committee is a 15 member panel, consisting of five current division I head coaches, five members of the national media and five collegeinsider.com staff members. Former Kentucky All-American Kyle Macy is the chairman of the awards committee.

Sessoms produced a breakout rookie campaign that included America East Rookie of the Year and third team all-conference honors and a multitude of records and accolades. He averaged 17.8 points and 3.5 assists and became the first freshman in 16 years to finish in the conference top-five in scoring and assists. He ranks fifth in the nation in freshman scoring and his points (588) and season scoring average are second-most in Binghamton’s 18-year Division I era.

Men’s basketball solidifies coaching staff for 2019-20

Binghamton head men’s basketball coach Tommy Dempsey has locked in his staff for the 2019-20 season. Set to join the Bearcats are former Seton Hall standout and international coach Levell Sanders and former Southern Vermont College head coach and familiar UMBC assistant Brian Johnson. Additionally, local product Patrick Norris has been promoted to coordinator of player development. The trio join Dempsey and associate head coach Bryan Goodman on Binghamton’s staff.

“I am really looking forward to working with both Levell and Brian,” Dempsey said. “We are very fortunate to add two guys who were not only accomplished players, but also have been successful head coaches.”

Men’s soccer releases 2019 season schedule

The Binghamton men’s soccer program has released its 2019 schedule, which begins with an Aug. 30 home game against Drexel at the Bearcats Sports Complex. The 17-game regular-season slate includes eight home games as well as a pair of contests against teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament.

“I think we have put an extremely well-balanced schedule together,” head coach Paul Marco said. “There is a good balance between home and away games and a good amount of rest days in between matches. We have tried to mirror our conference routine with the non-conference games we are playing. A lot of them play a similar style to the America East teams. So we are very happy with our schedule for 2019.”

Volleyball releases 2019 season schedule

Binghamton volleyball has released its 2019 fall schedule and the Bearcats will open play on August 30. The 23-match regular season includes four tournaments and the traditional 10-match America East slate.

Binghamton opens with three matches at the Delaware Classic on Aug. 30-31, including a contest against Big 12 member West Virginia. The Bearcats then head to Seton Hall for three matches in South Orange, N.J. On Sept. 13-14, Binghamton will return to the Army Black Knights Invitational. The following weekend, Binghamton wraps up the tournament portion of its schedule at the Georgetown Invitational.

Men’s tennis standout earns all-conference laurels

Binghamton senior No. 1 Ludovico Cestarollo has been voted to the Mid-American Conference (MAC) all-conference team, the league announced. It is the third career MAC honor for Cestarollo, who was the conference Newcomer of the Year in 2016 and a first team all-conference selection in 2017.

Cestarollo battled through injuries in his last two seasons and still managed to accumulate 112 combined singles and doubles victories.

Two tack athletes advance to NCAA Regionals

Redshirt sophomore Dan Schaffer and freshman Aziza Chigatayeva travel to the NCAA East Regional Meet, which was hosted by North Florida. Schaffer will compete in the men’s 5,000 on Saturday at 8:45 p.m. while Chigatayeva will take part in the women’s 3,000 Steeplechase (SC) on Friday at 8:20 p.m. For each of them, it marks their first career appearances at the meet.

The top 48 performances in the Eastern half of the United States advanced to the NCAA East Regional Meet. The top 48 performances in the Western half of the country, meanwhile, qualified for the NCAA West Regional Meet, which is being hosted by Cal-State Sacramento the same three days. The top 12 finishers in each event at both of those meets move on to the NCAA Championships, which will be hosted by Texas June 5-8.

Track teams shine at America East Championship

Freshman Aziza Chigatayeva was named the Most Outstanding Women’s Rookie, highlighting Binghamton’s performance in the second and final day of the America East Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Sunday, May 5, at Albany. The Bearcat women placed fourth out of nine teams in the final standings while the men finished in sixth place.

Chigatayeva, who won the 3,000 Steeplechase on Saturday, was part of the first-place 4x800 relay team on Sunday, which also included juniors Jessica Cueva-Scarpelli and Emily Mackay as well as sophomore Carmela Culhane. Their winning time was a school-record 9:02.67. It marked the first-ever win for the Bearcat women’s team in the 4x800 relay at the America East Outdoor Championship Meet.

This marks the second major rookie honor that Chigatayeva has received from the America East this year. She was also named the top rookie at the conference’s cross country meet back in October after placing third overall.

Women’s basketball welcomes new assistant coach

The Binghamton women’s basketball program has announced the hiring of Nick Moore as an assistant coach. He arrives with eight years of coaching experience, all at the NCAA Division I level.

Moore was an assistant coach at Bowling Green University from 2016-18. He worked with the team’s guard/perimeter players, who included four of the team’s top five scorers. Moore was in charge of the program’s recruiting in the Midwest as well as internationally. Among his key recruits was a center who was rated the 14th-best at her position in the nation.

From 2010-16, Moore was at Canisius College as an assistant coach. After joining the Golden Griffs as a graduate assistant in 2010-11, he was elevated to third assistant in 2011, second assistant in 2013 and first assistant/recruiting coordinator in 2015. His key recruits included a Top 50 rated point guard, seven All-MAAC players as well as four 1,000 point-scorers.

Women’s basketball finalizes recruiting class

The Binghamton women’s basketball program has received a National Letter of Intent (NLI) from Clare Traeger (Dallas, Texas), a 5-10 guard/forward from Prestonwood Christian Academy. She will join the Bearcats this fall to begin her freshman year.

Traeger is a two-time Texas Association of Parochial and Private Schools (TAPPS) All-State selection, having being named to the second team as a senior and earning honorable mention status as a junior. She was also named First-Team All-District by the TAPPS both years. For her career, Traeger broke the district record with over 1,000 rebounds during her final three years of high school.