After sweeping Colgate on Tuesday, the Binghamton softball team concluded its best regular season in program history with a doubleheader sweep over America East powerhouse Albany on Friday. The pair of road wins, built from late rallies by the Bearcats, earned BU its 15th and 16th wins of the AE slate.

“We were happy to get the two wins at Albany,” wrote Binghamton head coach Jess Bump. “It’s a tough place to go and play, so I was happy with how we had to grind out some wins.”

Binghamton (33-12, 16-2 AE) began Friday locked into a pitcher’s duel against the hosts, Albany (19-24, 9-8 AE). Junior pitcher Brianna Roberts kept the Great Danes from reaching home through the first four innings, but the Bearcat bats struggled to rally behind her.

This opened the door in the fifth frame for an RBI double that put Albany up 1-0, but Roberts held Albany to just one run through six. This allowed the answer to finally come off of sophomore utility Maddy Dodig’s bat in the top of the seventh in an RBI double, with a 1-2-3 bottom of the frame by Roberts sending it to extras.

Binghamton capitalized from there with an unearned run to begin the eighth before junior outfielder Bella Farina sent home two more to make it 4-1. While Roberts got rattled by a series of singles that brought the score to 4-3, she settled in for the dagger punchout to secure the 18th win of the year.

“Both [Roberts] and [junior pitcher Olivia Kennedy] have been solid for us all year,” Bump wrote. “The two of them along with the rest of our pitching staff has kept us in every ball game we have played all year.”

BU got on the board far quicker in the nightcap, with a bases-loaded HBP and an error putting the squad up 2-0 through two frames. The ball finally left the yard for the only time in the day in the fifth, as freshman infielder Rachel Carey hit one deep to left field to score three runs and go up 5-0. While Albany leveraged an error to bring a Great Dane home in the fifth, it was 6-1 after Carey netted her fourth RBI of the contest on a single.

However, this lead was far from safe in the seventh. After an efficient six frames, Kennedy started to lose control with a pair of walks while the defense fumbled a fielder’s choice to load up the bases. This would allow run number two for the Great Danes on a single, before two more went home on another single after a Bearcat error. After a RBI groundout made it a one-run ball game, Kennedy coaxed the final out to escape with a 6-5 victory.

“Defensively we have been better over the last few games,” Bump wrote. “I wouldn’t necessarily say our defense wasn’t solid on Friday, we just had a few things not go our way that we let snowball a little. But the defense and pitching locked in to get us the eventual wins.”

Friday’s sweep secured the best regular season overall win percentage and conference win percentage in program history at .733 and .889, respectively. This caps off a historic regular season where BU clinched its first sole AE regular season title since 2017.

Binghamton will welcome the field as it hosts the AE championship tournament starting Wednesday, May 7. The Bearcats possess a first-round bye, meaning they will play the winner of Bryant vs. UMass Lowell on Thursday, May 8 at 11 a.m. at the Bearcats Softball Complex in Vestal, New York.

“I think this year more than ever our home field is going to give us a huge advantage,” Bump wrote. “We have a lot of momentum, we are confident, and it sets the perfect stage to bring home a championship.”