ITHACA, N.Y. – Sophomore pitcher
Rozlyn Price homered twice, drove in six runs and recorded a win, leading Binghamton (11-16, 4-3 AE) to a split in an America East doubleheader against Stony Brook (14-15, 3-4 AE) on Saturday afternoon at Cornell University. The Bearcats dropped the opener 13-7 before taking a 10-6 victory in the finale.
Price hit both of her home runs in the opener, including a grand slam. It marked the first multiple-home run game of her career and the six RBI was also a career-high. In the second game, she tossed the first three innings and recorded her fourth win of the year.
Senior third baseman
Kate Richard finished the day 3-for-7 (.429) with a triple, a home run and four RBI. Freshman
Makayla Alvarez hit a team-best .667 (4-for-6) with two doubles and a home run.
Senior outfielder
Jessica Rutherford was 4-for-8 (.500) and extended her hitting streak to 11 games. She is now hitting a team-best .389 for the season.
In the opening game, Price played in the designated player position and her two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning tied the score at 2-2.
From there, however, the Bearcats unraveled defensively and eventually fell behind 13-3 entering the bottom of the seventh inning. Binghamton committed four errors resulting in six unearned runs by Stony Brook.
With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, however, Price belted her grand slam. Alvarez followed with a double but Taylor Pechin of Stony Brook retired the final two batters of the game.
Melissa Rahrich, who homered and drove in three runs for the Seawolves, also got the win on the mound. Her record is now 8-7. Sophomore pitcher
Rayn Gibson, meanwhile, took the loss and is now 5-7.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the second inning of the nightcap, Binghamton took advantage of three Stony Brook errors to plate six runs. Senior second baseman
Jillian Bovitt tripled home two of those runs and scored one batter later on Richard's two-run homer. It marked Richard's team-best sixth home run of the year.
In the top of the following inning, however, it was Binghamton's turn to make three errors. Stony Brook capitalized by scoring four unearned runs, trimming the deficit to 7-6.
Alvarez gave the Bearcats some breathing room when she homered to lead off the bottom of the third inning. Two innings later, Binghamton capitalized on a pair of walks and a wild pitch to score two insurance runs.
Price is now 4-7 while freshman pitcher
Chelsea Howard, who tossed four scoreless innings in relief, recorded her first career save. Taylor Pechin was tagged with the loss, dropping her record to 5-6.
Bovitt finished the day 3-for-6 (.500) and scored three times.
Binghamton and Stony Brook conclude their three-game series on Sunday. The start time has been pushed back to 1 p.m. (from noon) due to morning rain in the forecast.
NOTES: Richard now has 33 career home runs and 133 career RBI. She is now tied for third place all-time in home runs (with
Taylor Chaffee, who played from 2013-16) and moves into second place all-time in RBI. Against Stony Brook, Richard surpassed Chaffee, who finished her career with 130 RBI … Rutherford now has a career batting average of .380. That ranks ahead of the program leader, Mollie Lehman, who batted .379 from 1997-00.
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