After a nine-month break between seasons, the Binghamton softball team returned to action for the first time in 2023 over the weekend when it traveled down south for the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament. BU played in five games against four different opponents at the tournament and finished the weekend with a 1-4 record, earning its sole victory over FGCU on Friday.

“Obviously our record isn’t what we were looking for to start the season, but we played teams who are consistently in [the] NCAA tournament and learned a lot as a group,” wrote Binghamton head coach Jess Bump.

BU’s (1-4) first action of the year came in the form of a doubleheader on Friday where it faced off against UNC Greensboro (3-2) and FGCU (3-2), respectively. The Bearcats got off to a slow start to the tournament as they fell swiftly to the Spartans 8-0 during game one. After giving up four runs in each of the first two innings, Binghamton had fallen too far behind to mount any sort of comeback. The Bearcats were outhit just 6-4 in the contest, but four fielding errors allowed UNCG to put up its eight runs.

BU quickly bounced back after its game-one woes when it took the field against the hosting Eagles later that day. Despite trailing 2-0 after the first two innings, the Bearcats ended their scoring drought in the third. Sophomore outfielder Sarah Rende’s RBI single knocked in the squad’s first run of the season. Binghamton added to its total in the fifth inning when graduate student infielder Alli Richmond earned the team’s second score off of an RBI double. Richmond later scored off of a homer from junior utility Shelby Carvalho which capped off a four-run inning, BU’s highest-scoring inning of the weekend.

“Our win against FGCU was a full team win with good pitching, some clutch plays on defense and an aggressive approach offensively that put pressure on FGCU pitchers,” Bump wrote. “Offensively we were more effective in this game as we had an attack mentality and made adjustments much faster.”

The Bearcats added two more runs against FGCU including a pinch-hit solo homer from redshirt sophomore utility Brianna Santos in the sixth. Binghamton finished the matchup with a 7-5 victory over the hosts for its sole win of the tournament. BU’s next game took place on Saturday when it faced LIU (1-4) for the first half of a doubleheader. The Bearcats were shutout for the second time during the weekend and could only gather one hit in the 4-0 loss to the Sharks.

“Our biggest takeaways from the weekend are that we really need to get off to better starts, and not give good offensive teams extra opportunities,” Bump wrote.

Binghamton played its fourth game later that day against Southern Illinois (4-0) who entered the matchup undefeated. The contest followed a similar path as BU’s earlier game as the Salukis put up a 4-0 lead by the third inning. Despite claiming just one hit in the game again, the Bearcats avoided the shutout and added a run in the sixth inning thanks to a sacrifice flyout from Santos.

Binghamton played its final game of the weekend on Sunday during a rematch against UNC Greensboro. Unlike in their first matchup, the Bearcats scored early, exiting the first inning trailing 3-1 after Richmond doubled to center allowing Rende to reach home. UNCG’s bats did not slow down, however, as the Spartans added seven more runs to their total as BU failed to plate any itself. Binghamton ended with five hits during the 10-1 loss.

“For next weekend, we need to do a better job being aggressive and assertive in all areas of our game,” Bump wrote. “Just letting the game come to us and do what we do best — which is playing relaxed, and trusting all the hard work we’ve put in up until this point.”

Freshman pitcher Brianna Roberts was the lone Bearcat to exit the weekend with a victory. The freshman tossed 7.0 innings and struck out eight Eagles during the winning effort. Richmond left the weekend with two RBI doubles, and both Carvalho and sophomore outfielder Alayna Harbaugh posted multi-hit outings against FGCU.

“Brianna Roberts had a great presence on the mound, and for a freshman, had really good composure in a high-intensity game,” Bump wrote.

BU returns to action on Friday, Feb. 17 when it will travel to South Carolina for the Furman Tournament. First pitch is set for 11:30 am against Bellarmine at the Pepsi Stadium in Greenville, South Carolina.