Binghamton softball played three games against Maine over the weekend, dropping two out of three in the process. After winning their first matchup on Saturday, the Bearcats then dropped the following two games as they continued their fight for first place in the America East.

“Tough weekend for us,” wrote Binghamton head coach Jess Bump. “We had a good offensive weekend and just had some things not go our way on the other side of the ball.”

The Black Bears (13-28, 6-8 AE) quickly took a 4-0 lead in the first inning of game one thanks to an early grand slam, but junior infielder Elisa Allen responded with a three-run blast of her own in the third to bring the Bearcats (13-22, 12-5 AE) within one of their opponents. Sophomore infielder Emilia Podeszwa scored in the fourth thanks to an obstruction call, tying the game up. Allen hit her second home run of the day in the fifth, putting Binghamton up 6-4.

Freshman outfielder Reese Izenstark also homered in the fifth, extending the team’s lead by another two runs, but Maine responded with a two-run homer of their own in the bottom of the inning. Despite threatening the Bearcat lead, Maine was unable to score any more runs to close out the game, losing at a score of 8-6.

“After the grand slam was hit, we continued to answer back offensively,” Bump wrote. “We have been down early in a lot of our games that we have won, and have rallied back. Our offense doesn’t quit, and regardless of how much we are behind we are confident we can come back.”

Binghamton opened the scorebook in game two with a two-run homer from graduate student outfielder Darien McDonough and an RBI double from senior catcher Emma Lawson, giving the Bearcats a 3-0 lead in the first. The Black Bears battled back, however, scoring one run off a solo home run in the second before tying the game in the sixth thanks to back-to-back walks with the bases loaded. In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs, an error from Binghamton allowed Maine to score the winning run, leading to a walk-off 4-3 victory for the Black Bears in game two.

“[Allen] has stepped up the last few weeks and is getting hot at the right time as we head into the conference tournament,” Bump wrote. “She’s racked up a lot of RBIs and the people in front of her [are] doing their job in setting the table for her.”

The Bearcats were once again first to score in game three, thanks to an RBI from Allen in the first. Two more runs in the second gave them a 3-0 lead, but a string of hits in the bottom of the second from the Black Bears put Maine in the lead with a 6-3 score. However, an error in the top of the third allowed Lawson to come home and bring the game within two.

A two-run RBI double in the bottom of the inning extended Maine’s lead to 8-4, but a solo home run from Allen helped keep the Bearcats in the game. RBIs from junior utility Maddy Dodig and sophomore infielder Rachel Carey made the score 8-7 in the top of the fifth, but once again, Maine responded in the bottom of the inning with three more runs courtesy of a homer and a double, sealing the game at a score of 11-7. The Bearcats were unable to score for the rest of the match.

“We have faced a lot of adversity this year both in and out of our control, and after the games just talked as a group that these last few weeks we have to use that adversity as a challenge to come together when the season means the most,” Bump wrote.

Binghamton is next set to play on Tuesday, April 21 in a doubleheader at Cornell University. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Niemand-Robison Softball Field in Ithaca, New York.