EUGENE, Ore. – Binghamton's historic 2025 season came to a close on Saturday night at the NCAA Oregon Regional. The Bearcats (36-14) were defeated 7-4 by Weber State (29-31) in an elimination game on Saturday afternoon at Jane Sanders Stadium.

The Wildcats, who won the Big Sky Tournament last week, used a three-run home run by Olivia Brinkshaw and RBIs from Riley Whalen, Abby Grundy and Jordan McMahon to advance to Saturday's night's second elimination game against the host Ducks. Oregon was relegated to the elimination bracket after losing 14-1 to unbeaten Stanford earlier in the day.

For the Bearcats, junior first baseman Emma Lawson was 2-for-3 with three RBI. She ended the Oregon Regional with a team-best four RBI. For the season, Lawson drove in 51 runs and finished with a team-best .379 batting average.

Graduate students Brianna Santos and Lindsey Walter each scored two of the Bearcats' four runs. At the plate, Santos was 2-for-4 while Walter was 1-for-3 and added a sacrifice bunt.

The key moment of the game, however, came in the top of the third inning when Brinkshaw broke a 1-1 tie with her three-run shot well over the left field fence. One inning later, the Wildcats tacked on a pair of runs - one of which came on a RBI single by Whalen.

Binghamton got a pair of runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lawson's RBI ground out scored Santos on the play. Walter then scored the second run of the frame courtesy of a fielding error.

Grundy padded the Wildcat lead to 7-3 with her RBI single in the top of the sixth inning. Lawson, however, got that run back on a RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning. 

From there, however, Weber State pitcher Jayci Finch retired the final two batters of the game. She pitched the final five innings of the game to improve to 5-7. Taking the loss was junior pitcher Brianna Roberts, whose record dropped to 21-4.

"It's a tough way to end the season," head coach Jess Bump said. "Still, I'm really proud of what this team did this year. I think this year set the tone for what Binghamton softball is going to be in the years to come. Our senior class did an amazing job throughout their careers and showed what our expectations are moving forward. This was obviously not the outcome we wanted. We are a much better team than we showed this weekend, but we are going to continue to grow and hopefully be back in this situation."

Junior pitcher Olivia Kennedy came on in relief and threw efficiently against the Wildcats. Over 4.0 innings, she scattered one run on six hits, struck out five batters and issued only one walk.

Walter finished the Oregon Regional with a team-best .500 batting average (3-for-6). Senior third baseman Sarah Rende, who hit safely in both games, finished the weekend 2-for-5 (.400). Lawson, meanwhile, was 2-for 6 (.333) with a sacrifice fly.

Saturday's game against Weber State ended one of the most successful seasons in Binghamton's softball history. In addition to sweeping both the America East regular season and tournament titles for the first time, the Bearcats' 36 wins were the second most in program history.

"I think the experience we gained this season is valuable," Bump said. "Our returners know what the standard is for Binghamton softball. If we get the opportunity to get back here next year, they're going to feel more comfortable. My five-year plan when I took over was to get to a regional and also win a regional game and continue to build off of that. I think we are on the right path."

Santos, Walter and Rende are the lone Binghamton players to be graduating this season. The Bearcats return the other six starting position players as well as their entire pitching staff. In addition, eight newcomers will join the program for the 2025-26 academic year.

"It's hard to put into a sentence how much my time at Binghamton has meant to me," Santos said. "This is my home and my family, and I mean that truly. This place has given me somewhere I can display how much I love softball and how much I enjoy the people around me. I'm excited to see Binghamton grow and I have a lot of faith in this program."

"I have played with Sarah [Rende] since I was 16 years old and Brianna [Santos] and Lindsey [Walter] have both taken me under their wings since I got here," Lawson said. "They're going to be missed. They have left such a mark on this program that we're going to talk about them all the time next year."

NOTES: The 1995 Binghamton team won a program-record 37 games and advanced to the NCAA Division III NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season. The program moved up to the NCAA Division II level in 1998 and to the Division I level prior to the 2001-02 academic year … Lawson's RBI total is the third-highest, single-season mark in program history, trailing only sophomore catcher Elisa Allen (56 this year) and Lisa Cadogan (53 in 2015) … the Bearcats' final team batting average of .304 represents the third-best mark in program history … with a 36-14 record, Binghamton recorded its third-best, single-season winning percentage in program history (.720), behind only the 1995 (.822) and 1994 (.763) teams.