HARRISONBURG, Va. – Freshman designated player Rachel Carey belted a game-winning grand slam and junior first baseman Emma Lawson drove in three runs, highlighting Binghamton's performance during the opening day of the James Madison Softball Invitational on Friday at Bank of the James Field at Veterans Memorial Park. The Bearcats (11-6) rallied from six runs down to beat Fordham (7-9) 8-7 in the first game but lost 8-0 in five innings to the host Dukes in the nightcap.

The grand slam by Carey, which came in the bottom of the sixth inning against the Rams, capped the largest Binghamton comeback during its 24-year NCAA Division I era. The Bearcats were down 7-1 entering the bottom of the fifth inning before plating two runs during that frame and five more during the decisive sixth inning.

Carey, who has now clubbed a game-winning home run twice in the past four games, finished the day 3-for-6 (.500). She is the first Binghamton player to hit a grand slam since Allison L'Amoreaux against UMass Lowell on April 17, 2024. In addition, Carey is just the third Bearcat freshman ever to hit a grand slam and the first since Sarah Miller against Campbell back on Feb. 14, 2015.

Lawson, meanwhile, drove in all three of her runs in the opener against Fordham. She finished the day 2-for-6 (.333) and now leads the team with 15 RBI so far this season.

It was Lawson that started Binghamton's comeback against the Rams in the bottom of the fifth inning with an RBI double. She scored two batters later on a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Sarah Rende. Lawson also opened the scoring in the sixth inning with a bases-loaded walk. One batter later, she scored on Carey's grand slam.

Junior pitcher Olivia Kennedy came on in relief in the top of the fourth inning against Fordham. She did not allow an earned run over the final 4.0 innings and struck out a career-high 12 batters to improve her record to 2-3. Her strikeout total is the highest by a Bearcat pitcher since L'Amoreaux fanned 13 batters against USC-Upstate on Feb. 16, 2024.
Taking the loss for Fordham was Emilee Watkins, whose record dropped to 2-2.

In the Bearcats' second game of the day, Kristen Fleet and Taylor Johnson combined to pitch a five-hit shutout and the Dukes scored in all five innings.

Payton List and Reed Butler each drove in a team-high two runs.

Fleet's record improved to 4-3 while Kennedy, who pitched the first 2.0 innings, was tagged with the loss and is now 2-4.

Graduate student outfielder Lindsey Walter was 2-for-4 (.500) during the day and scored a pair of runs. Fellow graduate student outfielder Brianna Santos was 2-for-6 (.333) while sophomore second baseman Maddy Dodig was 2-for-5 (.400).

Carey, Walter and Dodig hit safely in both games.

Binghamton continues its stay at the JMU Invitational on Saturday with an 11 a.m. game against Radford followed by a 1:30 p.m. rematch against the Dukes.

NOTE: The previous record for the largest Binghamton comeback was 5 runs - which was done three times. Most recently, the Bearcats trailed Hartford 7-2 in the 2022 America East Tournament before winning 9-7.