HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. – The Binghamton softball team (3-10) lost its final two games at the St. John's Invitational on Sunday afternoon. The Bearcats were defeated 10-2 by Boston University (10-14) and 9-1 by Hofstra (14-7). Both games were decided in five innings.

The St. John's Invitational featured the most competitive field the Bearcats have faced this season. Boston University advanced to the Patriot League title game last year while Hofstra made it to the finals of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) finals. Both opponents on Saturday (St. John's and UMass) were also the runner up in their respective conference in 2017.

On Sunday, sophomore catcher Sarah Herkowitz hit a team-best .800 on the day (4-for-5) while senior outfielder Jessica Rutherford and senior third baseman Kate Richard were both 2-for-5 (.400).

In the opener against Boston University, Richard and freshman shortstop Makayla Alvarez hit back-to-back home runs in the top of the second inning, giving the Bearcats a 2-0 advantage.

The Terriers, however, took over the game with four runs in the bottom of the second inning. They then added three more runs in the third inning, two in the fourth inning and scored the walk off run in the fifth inning.

Ali Dubois got the win, improving to 5-4 on the season. The loss was tagged to sophomore pitcher Rayn Gibson, who is now 0-5.

Against the Pride, the Bearcats fell behind 3-0 through two innings but got a run back in the top of the third inning. Freshman first baseman Alex Guay doubled home Rutherford with two outs.

From there, however, Hofstra blew the game open with two runs in the bottom of the third inning and four more in the fourth inning. Binghamton went down in order in the top of the fifth inning.
Sophie Dandola improved to 7-3 with the win while sophomore pitcher Rozlyn Price fell to 2-4 with the loss.

Rutherford now has 188 hits for her career – just two short of the program record (190) set by Sydney Harbaugh from 2013-16. For the season, she is now batting a team-best .364.

Richard's home run was the 30th of her career. She is now tied for fourth place all time in program history with Lisa Cadogan (2013-16). Her 118 RBI continues to rank fourth all time.

Senior second baseman Stephanie Bielec was 2-for-6 (.333) and extended her current hitting streak to a team-best five games.

Binghamton heads to the UMBC Invitational next weekend.

NOTES: Guay hit a team-best .455 (5-for-11) during the four games at the St. John's Invitational while Herskowitz finished 5-for-12 (.417) … the last time Binghamton hit back-to-back home runs was on April 2, 2017 at UMBC. It was done by Herskowitz and Crysti Eichner.