Welcome back from spring break. While we we were busy either traveling or celebrating Easter and Passover, all the while wondering where the springtime weather ran off to, the Binghamton softball team had an eight game road trip. Over these eight games the Bearcats were 1-7, being outscored by their opponents 59 to 16.

The Bearcats are currently 4-19, 1-7 in conference, at the halfway point of the season. They have been as cold as the weather recently and are currently without a single pitcher whose ERA is under five or who has a winning record. After losing both games of their double-header Wednesday in Maryland versus UMBC (21-8, 6-2 AE) the Bearcats find themselves on a seven game losing streak and are 1-9 in their last 10 games.

Despite the losses, improvements have been seen under Ali Brian, whose coaching style is drastically different than that of former coach Holly Brown. Junior Patty Egan, who leads the team with an ERA of 5.37, provided some insight into the recent road trip.

‘The breaks just haven’t been going our way,’ Egan said. ‘When they have been, we’ve won those games. Although not reflected by the scores, the games could have gone either way. We’re hitting the ball right at the defenders and they [UMBC] had bloop singles land in, which lead to bigger hits that brought in runs. We are fully prepared to give Albany some good games this weekend.’

Sounds like the Bearcats are suffering from the fact that they play a game where, if you fail 70 percent of the time at the plate, you’re considered a member of the elite, or to be more clich√É©, they need to start ‘hitting them where they ain’t.’ A testament to the coaching of Brian can be seen in the optimism and morale remaining high in her players even at this low a point in the season. The players remain optimistic, knowing soon everything should come together.

The Bearcats are in desperate need of a few in conference wins, as the majority of the America East is still within reach. They will have the chance to begin the salvaging of this season on their home field this weekend in a three game set versus Albany (18-11, 3-5 AE).

Since You’ve Been Gone: March 31 at Hartford (DH) ‘ L 2-7, L 1-3; April 1 at Hartford ‘ W 6-2; April 3 at Syracuse (DH)’ L 0-12, L 0-4; April 6 at Boston University ‘ L 2-10; April 7 at Boston University (DH) ‘ L 5-12, L 0-9; April 11 at UMBC (DH) ‘ L 0-8, L 0-9.