VESTAL, N.Y. – Binghamton (17-27, 6-12 AE) erupted for nine runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to defeat Maine (11-27, 3-11 AE) 9-0 in an America East softball game on Sunday afternoon at the Bearcats Sports Complex Softball Facility. With the victory, the Bearcats take the conference series against the Black Bears two games to one and strengthen their bid to advance to the America East Tournament in two weeks.
 
After being held hitless through the first four innings against Maine, the Bearcats sent nine batters to the plate in the bottom of the fifth inning – and all of them reached base safely. Lauren Martinez broke the shutout with a three-run home run. Four batters later, junior catcher Sara Herskowitz belted a three-run double, padding the lead to 6-0. Just two batters after that, sophomore catcher Makalya Alvarez ended the game with another three-run home run.
 
"I really like the way how our players fed off each other's success in that fifth inning," head coach Michelle Johnston said. "Our bats were a little quiet earlier in the game but things can change pretty quickly and that's how it happened today."
 
Before the pivotal stretch of the game, sophomore Chelsea Howard threw five shutout innings. She scattered three hits, struck out five batters and issued just two walks in improving her record to 3-3.
 
"Chelsea was making some really good adjustments during the game," Johnston said. "She was really working well and the defense played great behind her.


For the second straight game, Binghamton did not commit an error.
 
The loss was tagged to Emily Reid, who is now 3-13.
 
Alvarez now has a team-best nine home runs this season. That ties the 10th-best, single-season total in Binghamton program history. She is also the first Bearcat player to hit that many homers in a season since Kate Richard had 11 in 2017.
 
Herskowitz now has a team-best and career-high 34 RBI this season.
 
Alvarez and Herskowitz each finished the series against Maine with a team-best .375 batting average (3-for-8). Alvarez drove in five runs while Herskowitz had four RBI.
 
Freshman second baseman Marissa Braito was 2-for-6 (.333) but drew four walks to finish with a .600 on-base percentage.
 
Binghamton has a bye next weekend while the other six conference teams are in action. The Bearcats are currently in fifth place in the America East standings, ahead of Hartford (5-10) and trailing UMBC (5-9). The top six teams qualify for the conference tournament, which will take place May 9-12 in Hartford.
Maine must sweep Stony Brook next weekend to move ahead of Binghamton in the conference standings.