ORONO, Maine – Binghamton (28-13, 12-4 AE) rode strong pitching and late-inning heroics at the plate to record a 3-1, 4-1 sweep over Maine (12-34, 3-12 AE) in an America East softball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at the UMaine Softball Complex. With the victories, the Bearcats extend their winning streak to eight games and their conference winning streak to nine straight decisions.

Sophomore outfielder Sarah Rende hit a team-best .600 on the day, going 3-for-5 with a pair of runs, two triples and two walks. Junior first baseman Allison L'Amoreaux was 3-for-7 (.429) with a run scored, a double and an RBI.

On the mound, the Bearcats got solid pitching from graduate student Sophia Pappas, redshirt sophomore Lindsey Walter and freshman Brianna Roberts. The trio finished the day with a combined ERA of just 1.00.

With the first game tied at 1-1, Rende led off the top of the sixth inning with a triple. She scored two batters later on an RBI single by L'Amoreaux. One inning later, freshman shortstop Akira Kopec, who led off the frame with a single, scored an unearned run courtesy of a fielding error.

Pappas went the distance in the opener, scattering one run on three hits and striking out eight batters. In the process, she won her fourth straight decision and is now 6-5.

Caitlyn Fallon, who also went the distance, was tagged with the loss and is now 6-13. She allowed only one earned run, however, and finished with six strikeouts.

Rende opened the scoring in the second game. She belted a two-out triple in the top of the first inning and scored one batter later on a double by redshirt sophomore third baseman Brianna Santos. For Santos, it was her conference-best 38^th RBI of the season.

Grace McGoldrick tied the score at 1-1 with a two-out homer in the bottom of the third inning. She finished the second game 2-for-3, having also hit a triple.

In the top of the seventh inning, the Bearcats finally broke the open with three runs. L'Amoreaux started off the frame with a double and was singled home by graduate student second baseman Alli Richmond. Freshman pinch hitter Emma Lawson and Roberts then each followed with RBI singles.

Walter went the first 4.2 innings and Roberts tossed the last 2.1 innings to raise her record to 10-2. Roberts, who last pitched on April 15 at Bryant, did not allow a run and struck out four batters in the process.

Alysen Reith took the loss, dropping her record to 5-6.

Roberts' 10 wins is the most by a Binghamton freshman pitcher since Sarah Miller won 11 times during the 2015 season.

Sophomore outfielder Laney Harbaugh hit safely in both games and now has a team-best, six game hitting streak. Kopec was 1-for-4 but also drew a pair of walks to finish the day with a .500 on-base percentage.

The Bearcats did not commit an error in either game and now have a conference-best fielding percentage of .969.

Binghamton and Maine conclude their series with an 11 a.m. game on Sunday.

NOTES: The 28 wins ties Binghamton's seventh-highest total in program history … Rende, who is now batting .302, leads the Bearcats with three triples and 16 extra-base hits this season.