MADEIRA BEACH, Fla. – Sophomore catcher Elisa Allen belted a pair of home runs and finished with five RBI while junior pitcher Brianna Roberts won for the third time in three days, lifting Binghamton (10-5) to a 7-5, 8-inning win over Butler (11-4) on Sunday morning in its final contest during the Make-it-Happen Games at the Madeira Beach Recreation Center. With the victory, the Bearcats finish the weekend unbeaten in five contests and now have a six-game winning streak.

Allen's two homers and five RBI tied both of her career highs, which she set against St. Bonaventure back on April 9, 2024. Against Butler on Sunday, her first home run was a three-run shot in the top of the fourth inning which gave the Bearcats a 3-2 lead. It was her two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning, however, that broke a 5-5 tie and proved to be the game-winning hit.

In the five games this weekend, Allen finished 4-for-12 (.333) with her two homers, five RBI as well as three extra-base hits. She now leads Binghamton with five home runs and 13 RBI so far this season.

Roberts, meanwhile, came on in relief in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Bulldogs with the score tied at 5-5. She pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out six batters. 

The most impressive stretch by Roberts came in the bottom of the eighth inning. Butler had a runner placed on second base at the start of the frame since the international extra-inning tiebreaker rule was in effect. From there, however, Roberts struck out the final three batters of the game.

For the weekend, Roberts went 3-0 with a save and a microscopic ERA of 0.90. In 20.0 innings of work, she struck out 24 batters. Roberts is now 6-1 this season with a 1.04 ERA.

Binghamton's other hero on Sunday was junior first baseman Emma Lawson, who smacked a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to give the Bearcats a 5-2 lead. It was her first homer of the year. Lawson is now hitting .349 this season and has driven in 12 runs.

Sunday's win over Butler featured one tie and a pair of lead changes. The Bulldogs went up 2-0 on a two-run home run by Hailey Conger in the bottom of the third inning. They then rallied with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to deadlock the game at 5-5. That set the stage, however, for Allen and Roberts to win the game for the Bearcats.

While Roberts got the win, Kayla Noerr lost her first decision of the year.

All five wins for the Bearcats at Madeira Beach were by two runs or less. During its final two games, Binghamton rallied for the victory. On Sunday against Butler, two of the Bearcats' home runs came with two outs.

"It was a great weekend of gritty wins," head coach Jess Bump said. "All were close games and we were happy to be faced with some adversity and being able to fight back. Brianna Roberts had an unbelievable weekend and really took her intensity to a new level in some tough situations. Our offense is coming along and it was good to see some good at bats and two-out RBIs under pressure." 

Graduate student Brianna Santos, who scored on Lawson's home run, hit a team-best .474 (9-for-19) during the weekend and scored a team-best four runs. She continues to lead Binghamton with a .442 batting average so far this season.

Binghamton heads to the James Madison Invitational this coming Friday-Sunday.

NOTE: Roberts, Allen, Lawson and Santos were all named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team last month.