The Binghamton softball team competed at the College Of Charleston Tournament this past weekend for its second tournament of the 2022 season. The Bearcats finished the tournament 3-2, earning wins against Holy Cross, College of Charleston and Valparaiso University.

Arriving in a rainy Charleston, BU (6-4) first battled Holy Cross (1-4) on Friday. After an hourlong rain delay, sophomore pitcher Allison L’Amoreaux took the mound giving up six hits and two earned runs in eight innings. Offensively, senior pitcher Sophia Pappas went 2-3 with two home runs, including one in the bottom of the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings.

“[Pappas] was the only one really barreling balls off that pitcher,” said Binghamton head coach Jess Bump. “She was the one we wanted up in that seventh inning.”

With the automatic baserunner rule in effect, redshirt freshman utility Lindsey Walter pinch ran and was bunted over to third, later scoring the walk-off run on a sacrifice fly by redshirt junior outfielder Chloe Morgan.

Shortly after a walk-off win, the Bearcats got off to a fast start in their second game against Lipscomb University (3-5), with freshman outfielder Alayna Harbaugh leading off the game pelting a single and scoring on a wild pitch. Graduate student pitcher Chelsea Howard started the game throwing over 5.1 innings and giving up seven hits and four earned runs. The Bearcats split their first day with a 3-2 win against Holy Cross and a 4-2 loss to Lipscomb.

L’Amoreaux was back on the mound Saturday morning for Binghamton’s second game against the Bisons. The Bearcat gave up three earned runs and struck out six over four innings before Pappas came in for relief. Pappas already belted a double earlier in the game and was given some run support by her teammates in the bottom of the fifth inning. Redshirt freshman infielder Gabby Guerrero scored on a fielding error, and senior utility Alli Richmond hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game at three. As the Bearcats faced their second extra-innings game of the weekend, they turned to Howard to finish out the game. After BU’s offense left the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth, Howard gave up a string of hits and sacrifice flies in the ninth, resulting in a 5-3 Lipscomb win.

The Bearcats looked to bounce back when facing Charleston (3-7) later that day. L’Amoreaux started her third game of the tournament, pitching a shutout over seven innings, only giving up three hits, a walk and striking out five. The sophomore pitcher reduced her ERA to 2.20 over her 35 innings pitched this season. Meanwhile, the Bearcat offense was led by Guerrero’s RBI single in the second inning, the only scoring play of the game.

Going into the final game of the tournament, the Bearcats looked to leave South Carolina with a winning record. BU’s final game was against Valparaiso (5-4) who were undefeated the first two days of the tournament. Howard started once again and pitched the Bearcats’ second straight shutout. Howard gave up five hits and struck out four, leading BU to a 3-0 win against the Beacons. Senior infielder Makayla Alvarez went 3-3 with two doubles and a home run.

Offensive leaders of the tournament included Guerrero who hit .364 with two RBIs and Alvarez who hit .400 with one walk in 14 plate appearances after her slow start last week in Georgia.

“[Alvarez] had just been working through some minor things offensively, and that’s why she caught some success recently,” Bump said.

The Bearcats were never ahead by more than three runs this weekend. However, Howard, L’Amoreaux, and Pappas held their opponents to just a .215 batting average over the five games.

“They were keeping their pitch count down, throwing a lot of strikes,” Bump said.

In total, the three pitchers split up 37 innings pitched, only giving up 10 earned runs.

“It’s good to see even if we’re not hitting the ball great, we can still get the win,” Bump said.

Binghamton have a two-week break before competing in the Grand Canyon Tournament on Friday, Mar. 4. First pitch is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the GCU Ballpark in Phoenix, Arizona.