The Bearcats carried a six-game win streak into this weekend’s series against the defending champions, but saw it die in dramatic fashion.
The Boston University Terriers (26-18, 10-2 America East) swept the Binghamton University softball team (21-15, 6-9 AE) in the three-game series. The Terriers had two walk-off wins in the series, resulting in two heartbreaking losses for the Bearcats.
Game 1 was scoreless until the fourth inning when Deannie Plemon smashed a homer to right field. This gave Binghamton a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the sixth inning. In the sixth, Boston’s Rachel Moeller hit a three-run home run over the center field fence to propel the Terriers to a 3-1 lead over the Bearcats.
Binghamton quickly answered back with two runs off two singles by Chelsea Horne and Meghan Tucker in the bottom half of the seventh to tie the game at 3-3. Going into the seventh, all Binghamton had to do was keep the score tied, but Boston’s Emily Roesch had other plans. With two outs and the bases loaded, Roesch hit a walk-off grand slam to center field, giving Boston the win by a score of 7-3.
The nightcap was not much better for the Bearcats. Neither team had crossed the plate until the fifth inning, when Boston scored two runs off of a solo homer and an RBI single. A fielder’s choice allowed Binghamton to score one run in the sixth, but that’s all they would get as Boston tacked on another run in the seventh to ensure their 3-1 victory over the Bearcats.
Game 3 resulted in another tough loss for Binghamton. The Terriers struck early, scoring one run off of two doubles in the bottom of the first. This gave them a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the third when two singles, a walk, a passed ball and a triple resulted in three more runs crossing the plate for Boston. Binghamton scored two runs in the fourth inning off a homer by Stephanie DeLuca. With this home run, Binghamton was down by only two going into the bottom half of the fourth inning. Boston increased its lead by two in the fourth off two Binghamton errors.
The Bearcats answered back scoring two runs off two hits and a couple of walks in the fifth, reducing Boston’s lead to two. After a scoreless sixth inning, Binghamton stayed strong, scoring two more runs in the seventh. Four singles hit by Stephanie Valencia, DeLuca, Kelly Schuldt and Colleen Whitaker and a double hit by Plemon tied the score at 6-6 going into the bottom half of the seventh.
For the second time in the series, Binghamton just needed to keep Boston from scoring a run in order to go into extra innings, but two singles and a costly throwing error gave Boston the go-ahead run and the 7-6 victory over Binghamton.
The Bearcats will look to improve their record this Wednesday in a double-header against St. Bonaventure. Game 1 is set to start at 3 p.m. at Binghamton’s East Gym field.