ALBANY, N.Y. (Interstat) — The Binghamton Bearcats scored twice in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally past the Maine Black Bears 6-5 on Friday afternoon at Varsity Field, snatching victory from a game that appeared to be slipping away.

Hunter St. Denis launched a solo home run in the top of the ninth to give Maine a 5-4 lead, but the Bearcats answered with a walk-off sequence that featured two walks, a hit-by-pitch and another walk to cap a comeback in the America East contest.

Binghamton improved to 30-20 overall, while Maine fell to 22-31.

The Black Bears struck first in the fourth inning when Albert De La Rosa homered to center field to tie the game 1-1. That erased an early Binghamton lead that came on Matt Bolton’s RBI double in the third.

Maine took control in the fifth after Tim Hennig scored on a passed ball to put Binghamton up 2-1, but the Bearcats’ lead vanished in a three-run seventh. Juju Steven singled, St. Denis singled and both came home on consecutive base hits by Troy Carpenter and Shane Andrus. Quinn Murphy followed with an RBI single, giving Maine a 4-2 advantage.

Binghamton chipped away. Hennig tripled to start the bottom of the seventh and scored on a Sean Sweeney groundout to cut the deficit to 4-3. The Bearcats tied the game in the eighth when Sam Miller, pinch-running for Steven Kraus after a double, scored on a sacrifice fly by Mike Stellrecht.

St. Denis answered immediately in the top of the ninth with his second hit of the day, a solo homer to left that put Maine ahead 5-4. The Black Bears first baseman finished 3-for-4 with a home run and two runs batted in.

But Maine could not hold the lead in the bottom half. Braylen Gonzalez led off with a single, advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Sweeney and moved to second on a walk to Matt Bolton. After Tommy Popoff struck out for the second out, Zack Kent walked to load the bases. Caden Albright was then hit by a pitch, forcing in Gonzalez to tie the game. With the bases still loaded, Zach Anderson drew a walk to force in Bolton for the winning run.

The decisive frame saw Maine use two pitchers. Owen Wheeler had retired the side in order in the sixth and seventh before giving way to Sebastian Holt in the seventh. Holt allowed three earned runs on no hits over 2 1/3 innings, walking four and hitting a batter while striking out two. He was charged with the loss.

St. Denis also delivered for Maine in the field and at the plate, while De La Rosa’s homer and Murphy’s two-hit performance highlighted an offense that produced 12 hits. Binghamton managed eight hits but made them count in the late innings.

Pitching changes defined the contest for both sides. Thomas Stabley started for Maine, throwing five innings of scoreless ball before exiting. He allowed no hits but issued two earned runs on walks and a passed ball. Mason Holloway worked 3 1/3 innings for Binghamton, surrendering one earned run on four hits with five strikeouts. Hayden Tarsia later tossed 2 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one run. Jackson Mitchell pitched three innings in middle relief and gave up two runs.

The game was the second meeting between the two teams this season. Maine had won two of three in the regular-season series, taking the final game 7-3 on May 3 at Binghamton.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Maine 7, Binghamton 6, while the Interstat ELO system gave the Bearcats a 61.30 percent probability of winning.