In its final series of the year, the Binghamton softball team triumphed over Hartford, winning the series two games to one. Although the Bearcats dropped the first outing, they came out strong in games two and three with early leads. BU finished the shortened season with an 11-14 overall and a 6-11 conference record, but Binghamton head coach Michelle Johnston felt confident in her team going forward.

“The result of the season and not making the conference tournament does not show the work [the seniors] have put in,” Johnston said. “We feel like we probably should be in a better spot than we are right now. We still feel good in the future moving forward.”

Freshmen pitchers Allison L’Amoreaux and Hannah Mearns pitched games one and two. They finished their seasons with 1.31 and 2.32 ERAs, respectively. L’Amoreaux also received America East (AE) softball Rookie of the Week for the week of May 4.

“We feel really good moving forward,” Johnston said. “We have both [Mearns] and [L’Amoreaux] that were freshmen this year. They did really well on the mound. We’ve got some good experience coming back.”

Binghamton started the first weekend game against Hartford (6-13, 4-13 AE) hot with two runs in the first inning. Capitalizing on a throw down at second, junior infielder Marissa Braito stole home to start the scoring. After stealing second to allow Braito to score, junior outfielder Chloe Morgan stole third and ran to home following an errant throw by Hartford. In the second inning, senior outfielder Lauren Martinez scored off of a ground ball, but her run capped off the scoring for the Bearcats in the first outing. Mearns only allowed two earned runs through a little more than three innings, but two unearned runs gave the Hawks the 4-3 win in game one.

Game two faired better for BU, as they won 4-1. Through three innings, defense was in full force with the game remaining scoreless, but in the fourth inning, freshman utility Shelby Carvalho started the scoring with a homer to right, and senior catcher Hannah Lyons immediately followed up, giving the Bearcats two runs in a row. In the fifth, L’Amoreaux knocked in a two-RBI double herself to give the Bearcats a 3-0 lead.

L’Amoreaux pitched five innings and only allowed one run while striking out seven to complete her season at 2-1. Junior pitcher Sophia Pappas came in for two relief innings and was credited with a save. Over the course of the outing, BU only allowed two hits and struck out seven Hawks.

Game three concluded the series and the season for both teams. Similar to games one and two, Binghamton started the scoring. A two-RBI single from senior utility Sarah Benn gave the Bearcats a 2-0 lead. In the next inning, Lyons struck a homer for the second time in the series, putting BU up 4-0 in the third. However, Hartford fought back, scoring three straight runs going into the seventh, while leaving runners on second and third. In the seventh, however, Binghamton got the bats moving again, as redshirt senior pitcher Rayn Gibson knocked a two-RBI triple to cement the win for BU. Gibson was credited with the win, allowing only one run and striking out seven in four innings on the mound. Despite allowing eleven hits, the Bearcats still won the game 7-3.

“The season was obviously difficult and challenging, not being able to play as many games as we normally would,” Johnston said. “We kind of feel like our season should just be getting started. Normally we would play this many games in our preseason tournaments, but we feel good going into next year.”

Despite a strong performance in their last series, the Bearcats did not qualify for the AE Conference tournament.