WEST HARTFORD, Conn. -- For fifth-year senior pitcher Rayn Gibson, the final game of her career at Binghamton could not have worked out better.

One year after her senior season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, she completed her final appearance in style, pitching five strong innings and driving in a career-best two runs as Binghamton (11-14, 6-11 AE) beat Hartford (6-12, 5-12 AE)  7-3 in an America East softball game on Saturday afternoon at the Hartford Softball Field. With the victory, the Bearcats conclude their season by taking two out of three games from the Hawks, having split Friday's doubleheader.

Gibson was one of three Bearcat players to drive in a pair of runs against the Hawks on Saturday. She was joined by senior outfielder Hannah Lyons and senior third baseman Sarah Benn.

All six seniors who were playing in their final game for Binghamton recorded at least one hit against the Hawks on Saturday. Gibson, Benn and Lyons were joined by designated player Alex Guay, first baseman Madison Germano and outfielder Lauren Martinez.

"The team played great this whole weekend and it was great to see the seniors go out the way that they did," head coach Michelle Johnston said. "We will miss them very much but we are excited to see them move on and do great things."

Gibson got the start and went 4.0 innings, allowing one run on seven hits and striking out seven batters. She moved into the center field position for the final three innings. Her record for the season ends up at 5-4.

Benn and Lyons, meanwhile, gave Gibson plenty of run support. Benn's two-run single in the top of the first inning, gave the Bearcats a quick 2-0 lead. Lyons, meanwhile, drilled a two-run home run in the top of the third inning, increasing the lead to 4-0. It was her second home run in as many games. 

The Hawks came back to within 4-3, scoring once off of Gibson in the bottom of the third inning and twice more off of fellow senior pitcher Chelsea Howard in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Gibson, however, came through at the plate in the top of the seventh-inning, ripping a two-run triple to pad the lead to 6-3. She scored one batter later on a sacrifice fly by junior second baseman Marissa Braito.

Howard retired the side in the bottom of the seventh inning to nail down her first save of the year.

Julianna Kocenski took the loss, dropping her record to 3-6.

Saturday's win capped a challenging year the Bearcats. Like every NCAA program, they had to work through the challenges of the current COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Binghamton's season was halted after just 15 games.

"These last two years have been challenging and I can't thank our players enough," Johnston said. "They continued to work hard through it all."

Gibson finishes her career with the sixth-most strikeouts in program history (319) and sixth-most victories (29). She ended the series against Hartford with three RBI.

Senior shortstop Makayla Alvarez finished the weekend 3-for-9 (.333) and ended the season with a team-best .350 batting average. She and Lyons tied for the team lead in 2021 with three home runs.

Lyons finished the weekend 3-for-6 (.500) and drove in three runs on her two home runs. Benn went 2-for-5 (.400) during the series.

NOTES: Both Howard and Alvarez will return next season for a fifth year.