ALBANY (Interstat) — Tommy Popoff’s three-run homer in the fifth inning put Binghamton ahead, but Albany answered with a four-run eighth inning to take an 11-9 victory Sunday in the first game of a doubleheader at Varsity Field.

The Great Danes rallied from a 9-7 deficit in the bottom of the eighth. Michael Maggio singled and Brian Guerrero singled to put runners on first and second before Luke Filippi loaded the bases with a single. Cooper Loyal then singled through the left side, scoring Guerrero and Maggio to tie the game at 9. John Vitucci followed with a single to right center to load the bases again. After Patrick DeSarno grounded into a double play, Levi McAllister’s groundout to center field scored Vitucci and Loyal to give Albany an 11-9 lead.

Binghamton had taken a 3-0 lead by the top of the third inning. Zack Kent scored on a throwing error in the second, and Steven Kraus drove in two unearned runs in the third. Albany answered with two runs in the bottom of the third on an RBI single by Vitucci and a passed ball.

The Great Danes seized control in the fourth inning. Tre Mariano led off with a solo home run to center. Two errors by Binghamton’s third baseman helped set up Filippi’s two-run single, and McAllister added a two-run single to make it 7-3.

Binghamton responded with five runs in the top of the fifth. Popoff crushed a three-run homer to center, scoring Sean Sweeney and Matt Bolton. Kent then tripled and scored on a passed ball, and Tim Hennig’s RBI single tied the game at 7. Bolton tripled in the sixth inning and scored on Kent’s single to give the Bearcats a 9-7 lead.

Albany’s pitching held Binghamton scoreless in the final three innings. Victor Mazzara pitched a scoreless eighth, and Jameson Walsh closed with a scoreless ninth, allowing one hit and striking out one.

Binghamton (26-19) outhit Albany 12-12 but committed three errors. Albany (14-28) snapped a two-game losing streak and avenged a 12-2 loss to Binghamton two days earlier.

Popoff finished 1 for 5 with a home run and three RBIs. Kent went 3 for 4 with a triple, a single and an RBI. Bolton was 3 for 4 with two doubles and a triple. Brady Bouchard pitched 3.1 innings of hitless relief, striking out six.

For Albany, Mariano went 2 for 4 with a home run and an RBI. McAllister had one hit and four RBIs. Loyal finished 1 for 3 with two RBIs. Zach Mravlja pitched two scoreless innings of relief, allowing two hits.

The game was the first of a four-game set between the teams. Binghamton plays Massachusetts-Lowell next weekend, while Albany travels to Maine.

Interstat’s ELO system had projected Binghamton with a 66.60 percent probability to win.