Dave Katz/Assistant Photo Editor
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Binghamton University’s softball team dominated the Hartford Hawks this past weekend with a 3-0 sweep. With the wins, the Bearcats have improved their record to 19-12 on the season and 6-6 in the America East Conference.

“Now we are getting back to where we need to be in the conference,” BU head coach Michelle Burrell said after the wins.

In the first game of the series, stellar performances from both the offense and the defense helped Binghamton to shut out the Hawks by a score of 9-0. Pitcher Rhoda Marsteller shut down the Hartford offense by retiring the first nine batters that came to the plate. In her six shutout innings, she allowed only one hit and one walk, while striking out nine.

The game was scoreless until the third inning, when Jessica Phillips slammed her eighth home run of the season over the left field fence. Stephanie DeLuca singled later in the inning, advancing Deannie Plemon to second and scoring Stephanie Valencia to put Binghamton up 2-0. With the bases loaded, Kelly Schuldt reached first safely on a fielder’s choice, allowing DeLuca to score. The next batter, Chelsea Horne, ripped a single to center field to score Briana Andrews from third, giving the Bearcats a 4-0 lead going into the fourth.

Later in the fifth, Horne and Meghan Tucker added two more runs off of two RBI doubles, giving the Bearcats a 6-0 lead. Binghamton was able to score three more in the sixth inning off of a single by Plemon and a two-run RBI double by Colleen Whitaker. The mercy rule was then put in effect, giving the Bearcats a 9-0 victory over the Hawks.

Kristen Emerling followed suit with another solid pitching performance in the nightcap, improving her record to 10-2 on the season. In five innings, she gave up only three runs off three hits and struck out two. Hartford struck early scoring a run in the first, but Binghamton answered back with three runs in the second inning. The Hawks came right back in the third, scoring two runs and tying the score at 3-3.

The Binghamton bats awoke in the fourth, however, with the team scoring 11 runs off nine hits in the inning. Schuldt singled up the middle and later scored off a single by Phillips to begin the rally. Valencia added runs to the board when she smashed an RBI double to right-center field. The next batter, Plemon, also doubled, scoring Valencia and Phillips. A single by Andrews followed by a double from Whitaker plated two more runs, giving Binghamton a 9-3 lead.

But the Bearcats were not finished. With the bases loaded, Horne connected for a three-run RBI double to right-center and Phillips tripled to center, scoring two. By the time the fourth inning had ended, Binghamton was leading by a score of 14-3. This was the final score of the game as the Hawks were unable to score any runs in the fifth.

Highlighting the series was Plemon’s walk-off home run in Game 3 to complete the sweep. Hartford came out strong in the first two innings, outscoring Binghamton 4-1. In the third, however, a single by Phillips and a double by Plemon tied the game at 4-4. The Hawks put up a fight, scoring three more runs in the fourth, giving Hartford a 7-4 lead until Binghamton answered back in the fifth. Valencia connected for a double to center field and later advanced to third off a wild pitch.

Plemon then hammered a home run to left-center field, followed by a home run down the right field line by Whitaker to tie the game once again at a score of 7-7. The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh. On the verge of going into extra innings, Plemon crushed a homer to right-center, ending the game and giving Binghamton the win by a score of 8-7.

“Our hitters were disciplined and waited for good pitches,” Burrell said.

The Bearcats look to extend their four-game win streak Wednesday as they face Colgate in a doubleheader. The first game is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.