VESTAL, N.Y. - The Binghamton softball program has made history by sweeping all four major awards as the America East unveiled its 2025 all-conference teams on Tuesday afternoon. Sophomore catcher Elisa Allen was named the Player of the Year, junior Brianna Roberts was chosen as the Pitcher of the Year, freshman designated player Rachel Carey earned the Rookie of the Year award while Jess Bump repeated as the Coach of the Year.
The Bearcats are the first softball program in the America East ever to sweep all four major awards outright. In 2011, Boston University posted the Coach, Rookie and Pitcher of the Year honors but shared the Player of the Year award with Jessica Phillips of Binghamton.
In addition, Binghamton posted a conference-record seven first-team selections and nine overall picks. Furthermore, the Bearcats landed a program-best five America East All-Academic honorees.
"This has been a historic season for Binghamton Softball and we are so proud of the accomplishments we've had as a team and individually throughout the season," Bump said. "It's come from a few years of a lot of hard work, discipline and toughness both on and off the field. This team is hungry, and we are excited to see what we can do over the next three days with complete trust in our preparation and support of one another."Â
Joining Allen, Roberts and Carey on the first team were junior pitcher Olivia Kennedy, junior first baseman Emma Lawson as well as graduate student outfielders Brianna Santos and Lindsey Walter. Carey was also chosen to the conference's All-Rookie team. Binghamton's All-Academic selections were Lawson, Roberts, Santos, Walter and Kennedy.
Landing on the second-team, meanwhile, were senior third baseman Sarah Rende and sophomore second baseman Maddy Dodig.
Allen is the second straight Bearcat to be chosen as the Player of the Year and the fourth all time. She joins Phillips, Sydney Harbaugh (2014) and Allison L'Amoreaux (2024).
Allen is in the midst of a historic season, having already broken the Binghamton single-season record for both home runs (22) and RBI (55). She leads the America East in both of those categories as well as in slugging percentage (.880) and OPS (1.309). Allen's home run total ranks second all time in America East Conference history while her RBI total ranks fourth.
During the regular season, Allen was named the America East Player of the Week a program-best three times. She has six games with two home runs and tied Lisa Cadogan's 2015 school record with seven RBI against Colgate on April 29.
On the national level, Allen ranks fourth with 0.49 home runs per game. She is also No. 21 with 1.21 RBI per game and No. 20 with her .880 slugging percentage.
Roberts is the first Binghamton player ever to be named the America East Pitcher of the Year. She is currently 18-2 with a 2.12 ERA.
Roberts leads the conference in both wins and ERA and ranks second with 136 strikeouts. During the regular-season, Roberts was named the America East Pitcher of the Week a program-best four times.
In the NCAA stats, Roberts ranks No. 33 in victories and No. 23 with five complete-game shutouts.
Carey is the fifth Bearcat to be named the America East Rookie of the Year and the first since Roberts in 2023. The other previous Binghamton selections include Phillips (2010), Cadogan (2013) and Jessica Rutherford (2015). Carey is also the first Binghamton freshman to earn first-team all-conference honors since Harbaugh, Cadogan and Tiffany McIntosh were all chosen in 2013.Â
Heading into the postseason, Carey is tied for second in the America East with 11 home runs and is fourth with 35 RBI. Three times during the regular season, she was named the America East Rookie of the Week. Carey is currently batting .313.
After sharing the Coach of the Year with Bianka Bell of Bryant last year, Bump steered Binghamton to its first outright regular-season title since 2017. Her current staff includes Michaela Transue, Brooke Wilmes and Sophia Pappas. Since Bump took over the helm of the program four years ago, Binghamton has run up a record of 119-73.
This marks the fourth time that Binghamton has posted the America East Softball Coach of the Year. Michelle Johnston was the choice in both 2013 and 2016.
Walter is just the fifth Binghamton player to be named first-team all-conference at least three times during her career. She joins Harbaugh (2013-16), Jessica Chellis (2002-04), Cadogan (2013-15) and Rutherford (2016-18). In addition, Walter makes her second appearance on the All-Academic Team, having also been picked in 2023.
Walter is tied for first in the America East with 36 runs, is tied for fourth with 46 hits and ranks third with 17 stolen bases. She is currently hitting .315.
Santos makes her third straight all-conference appearance, having been chosen first-team in 2023 and second team last year. In addition, she is just the second Binghamton player to be named to the All-Academic Team three times during her career. Bump was chosen from 2012-14 during her own standout career with the Bearcats.
Santos is currently second in the America East with a .361 batting average and is tied for first with three triples. She reeled off a career-high, 15-game hitting streak from March 15-April 23 and was named the America East Player of the Week back on Feb. 18.
On the national level, Santos is ranked as the second toughest batter to strikeout (79.0).
Lawson makes her first appearance on both the all-conference and all-academic teams. She leads the America East with a .377 batting average, has homered eight times and ranks second in the conference with 42 RBI, a .695 slugging percentage as well as a 1.073 OPS. Lawson was named the America East Player of the Week on both Feb. 11 and April 8.
In the NCAA stats, Lawson is ranked No. 28 in the nation with five sacrifice flies.
Kennedy also makes her first appearance on the all-conference and all-academic teams.
With a 10-8 record and a 2.79 ERA, Kennedy is tied for fourth in the America East in both victories and ERA. She is also fifth with 116 strikeouts. She was named the conference's Pitcher of the Week on April 15.
At the national level, Kennedy is No. 42 with a 7.9 strikeouts to walks ratio.
Rende makes her second all-conference appearance, having last been named second-team as an outfielder in 2022.
With a career-high nine home runs this season, Rende is tied for fifth place in the America East. She is also ranked ninth with both a .947 slugging percentage and a .927 OPS.
Dodig makes her first all-conference appearance, having been named to the All-Rookie Team last year.
Currently, Dodig ranks ninth in the America East with a .327 batting average and carries a career-high, nine-game hitting streak heading into the America East Tournament. She is also No. 10 in both slugging percentage (.519) and OPS (.926).
Binghamton (33-12, 16-2 AE) clinched the America East regular-season title a week ago and will be hosting the conference tournament Wednesday-Saturday. The Bearcats' opening game as the No. seed is set for Thursday at 11 a.m. against either UMass Lowell or Bryant.Â
NOTES: Binghamton was tied for the previous conference record with six first-team all-conference selections and eight overall picks in 2016 … the Bearcats' previous record for the most America East Academic selections was four, which was set in 2011 and equaled in both 2012 and 2013 … Santos, Roberts, Lawson, Walter and Santos were all named to the Preseason All-Conference Team back in January.Â
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