After dropping its weekend series against Bryant last weekend to open America East (AE) conference play, the Binghamton women’s softball team rebounded by sweeping Le Moyne in its home-opening doubleheader on Tuesday. In game one, seven innings of one hit ball from sophomore pitcher Brianna Roberts spearheaded a 2-0 victory. Then in the second game, the Bearcats jumped out to an early lead to earn 13-3 victory and sweep the doubleheader.

“[Roberts] has been throwing well and gaining confidence every outing she has,” said Binghamton head coach Jessica Bump. “She has been having good games offensively, and it’s been helping with her confidence on the other side of the ball.”

The opening game started slowly as neither Binghamton (17-10, 1-2 AE) nor Le Moyne [6-20, 2-4 Northeast Conference (NEC)] got on the scoreboard across the first three innings. Both teams struggled to record hits and get on base, with the Bearcats’ offense hitting just .227 in game one. However, in the bottom of the fourth inning, the stalemate ended after sophomore outfielder Bella Farina hit a home run to give the Bearcats its first run of the game. Shortly after, Roberts hit an RBI triple and shortly after, she was brought home by freshman infielder Elisa Allen on a sacrifice fly.

“We were a little passive in game one,” Bump said. ”After the first game, we talked about going up to the plate with a lot of confidence.”

Binghamton’s defense in the outfield and pitching kept the Dolphins scoreless the rest of the way. At the mound, Roberts allowed only one hit in the game and just three runners reached base for Le Moyne. Roberts also struck out six, recording a complete game shutout and improving to 6-5 on the year. The opening game of the doubleheader ended with a 2-0 Binghamton victory.

“We were pressing in the first game, but I was happy with how we responded after that,” Bump said.

In game two, after Le Moyne nailed a homer to right field in the first inning, Binghamton responded by picking up the pace at the plate as it plated seven runs of its own during the bottom of the inning. Roberts and Farina started the flurry of scoring with a pair of RBI singles. Then, Allen added to their efforts by drilling a three-run home run to left field. Redshirt junior outfielder Brianna Santos capped off the scoring with an RBI single as BU took a 7-1 lead at the end of one frame.

“We’ve been talking about winning every inning and having each other’s backs,” Bump said. “After giving up a run in the first, they really responded well and got the momentum back.”

The Bearcats added three more runs in the second inning starting with an RBI double from senior first baseman Allison L’Amoreaux. Not long after, senior third baseman Shelby Carvalho hit a two-run double to make it a 10-1 game. The offense continued for BU in the third inning as Farina hit an RBI double to plate Santos and eventually was brought in by an RBI single courtesy of a single by Allen, which cemented a 12-2 Binghamton advantage. While Le Moyne etched a run in the fourth and fifth innings, freshman infielder Maddy Dodig scored the final for BU. The game concluded by mercy rule, with the Bearcats defeating the Dolphins in game two 13-3.

“The team made great adjustments in game two,” Bump said. “[The team was] attacking good pitches early on in their at-bats and getting good results because of it.”

The Bearcats will stay at home to resume AE play with series against UMBC. The first pitch of the first game is set for 4 p.m. on Friday, March 29 at the Bearcats Softball Complex in Vestal, New York.