ALBANY, N.Y. -- In a battle between the top two teams in the America East, Binghamton (29-13, 11-3 AE) split an America East softball doubleheader with Albany (30-13, 10-2 AE) on Saturday afternoon at Albany Field. The Bearcats held on to win the first game 10-8 but dropped the nightcap 7-2.
Sophomore outfielder
Jessica Rutherford finished the afternoon a team-best 4-for-7 (.571). She now has 58 hits this season, which breaks the Binghamton program record of 55, set by Mollie Lehman in 1997.
Junior outfielder
Gabby Bracchi, senior designated hitter
Griffin McIver and sophomore third baseman
Kate Richard each went 2-for-6 during the doubleheader. McIver hit her conference-best 13
th home run during the first game.
In the opener, Binghamton took advantage of a pair of Albany miscues in the top of the first inning to plate five runs. The Bearcats needed only a pair of hits during that frame.
One inning later, the Bearcats tacked on five more runs to go up 10-0. Junior shortstop
Crysti Eichner singled home a pair of runs and scored one batter later on McIver's three-run homer.
The Great Danes, however, came roaring back. After scoring once in the bottom of the second inning, they scored twice more in the bottom of the fifth inning to keep the game going.
Down 10-5 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, Albany got its first two runners on base before Elizabeth Snow clubbed a three-run home run. Senior pitcher
Cara Martin, however, came into the game and got three straight outs to preserve the victory.
Sophomore pitcher
Sarah Miller improved to 13-6 with the win while Devin Durnado fell to 15-6 with the loss. Martin's save was her third of the year.
In the second game, Albany used the long ball to jump out to a 7-0 lead through two innings of play. Maggie Cocks clubbed a three-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and two batters later, Mackenize Cleary drilled a two-run shot. Snow came through the following inning with a two-run homer.
Binghamton trimmed the deficit to 7-2 in the top of the third inning on RBI singles by senior catcher
Taylor Chaffee and senior first baseman
Lisa Cadogan.
Albany, however, tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning and finished the game with another run in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Celeste Verdolivo raised her record to 15-4 with the win while Martin dropped to 9-4 with the loss.
Binghamton and Albany will conclude their series with a 10 a.m. game on Sunday. The game was orginally scheduled for noon but was moved up due to the weather.
