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Binghamton (18-21, 8-2 AE) and Maine (16-18, 10-1 AE) are firmly entrenched in the top two spots in the America East Conference. The Black Bears enter the weekend with a 1.5-game lead in the conference standings but the Bearcats have an extra game in hand. This past Wednesday's game at Albany has been moved to next Tuesday at 2 p.m. – replacing the previously scheduled home games against Cornell.

The recent history between Binghamton and Maine is well known. The Bearcats won the 2015 conference title but after winning the America East regular-season championship last season, they were denied a repeat by the Black Bears in the tournament. In this year's America East preseason poll, Maine and Binghamton were the top two teams respectively.

The only America East team to have defeated Binghamton and Maine at all this season is UMass Lowell. The Black Bears took two of three games from the River Hawks, including a 5-4 walk off victory on Thursday. Binghamton, by contrast, went 1-2 against UMass Lowell two weekends ago.

In its most recent action, Binghamton dropped a pair of home non-conference games to Hofstra on Tuesday by scores of 7-6 and 9-0. Junior outfielder Jessica Rutherford finished 3-for-7 (.429) with a pair of RBI. Junior second baseman Stephanie Bielec also went 3-for-7 against the Pride.

Junior outfielder Jessica Rutherford continues to rank near the top of the conference in several statistical categories. She is third in batting (.395), second in slugging percentage (.661) runs scored (30) RBI (38) and total bases (82) and is fifth in on-base percentage (.442). Junior third baseman Kate Richard currently leads the America East with 39 RBI while senior outfielder Bridget Hunt has belted a conference-best five triples.

As a team, Binghamton leads the nation with 0.49 triples per game. The Bearcats' 19 triples have already broken the previous program record of 17 – set during the 1995 season.

Rachel Carlson leads Maine and is ranked fifth in the conference with a .364 batting average. Alyssa Derrick, meanwhile, leads the America East with 12 home runs and is the current two-time America East Player of the Week.

Prior to Sunday's game, the Bearcats will honor graduating seniors Gabby Bracchi, Shelby Donhauser, Crysti Eichner, Bridget Hunt and Kim Santiago during their annual Senior Day Ceremony.