ALBANY (Interstat) — Conner Griffin pitched five innings of two-hit shutout ball and Binghamton used a two-run second inning to blank Massachusetts-Lowell 3-0 on Thursday afternoon at Varsity Field.

Griffin allowed two hits, walked one and struck out four before leaving with the lead. He lowered his earned-run average after a rough outing earlier in the week against the same opponent and improved his season record to a team-best mark. The Bearcats raised their overall record to 29-20, while the River Hawks dropped to 21-30.

Binghamton scored all of its runs in the second and third innings. The Bearcats broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the second. Zack Kent singled through the right side and Steven Kraus singled to center. Zach Anderson reached on a throwing error by the third baseman on a sacrifice bunt, loading the bases. Mike Stellrecht then singled to left field, driving in Kent for the game’s first run. Braylen Gonzalez followed with a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Kraus and giving Binghamton a 2-0 lead.

In the third, Matt Bolton singled to right, advanced to second on a groundout by Tommy Popoff and moved to third on a wild pitch. He scored on another wild pitch from River Hawks starter Jacob Jette to extend the lead to 3-0.

Jette took the loss despite yielding no hits in his stat line. Over 5.2 innings, he allowed three earned runs, walked two and struck out seven. The three runs came via the two wild pitches and the sacrifice fly, with the initial damage aided by the error.

Massachusetts-Lowell threatened in the fourth and sixth innings but could not push a run across. In the fourth, Sean O’Leary walked and Nicholas Solorzano singled, putting runners at first and second with one out. But Joseph DeLanzo grounded into a fielder’s choice and Ryan Strand popped out. In the sixth, walks to Rowan Masse and O’Leary put two on with one out, but Carlos Martinez and Solorzano struck out, and DeLanzo grounded out.

The River Hawks’ best chance came in the eighth. Cal Chance singled up the middle but was immediately picked off. After O’Leary singled, Martinez doubled to right, putting runners at second and third with two outs. Solorzano then popped out to third to end the inning.

Jake Dally relieved Griffin in the sixth and threw 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out four. Aiden Milburn pitched the final 1.1 innings, giving up two hits but stranding a runner in the ninth by inducing a groundout.

Brian Foley pitched one-third of an inning for the River Hawks, and Frankie DeMaro threw two scoreless innings with one strikeout.

Zack Kent led Binghamton with two hits, including a double in the eighth. Zach Anderson had one hit in two at-bats before being replaced by a pinch runner. Stellrecht finished with one hit and the RBI. Matt Bolton scored the final run.

Massachusetts-Lowell managed six hits in the game, led by Chance and Solorzano with one each. The River Hawks were shut out for the fifth time this season.

The game came two days after Massachusetts-Lowell won an extra-inning contest against Bryant. Binghamton had taken two of three from the River Hawks the previous weekend in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Binghamton 6, Massachusetts-Lowell 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Binghamton a 66.40 percent probability to win.