Only one message was echoed by head coach Michelle Burrell, senior captains Briana Andrews and Meghan Tucker and the 2011 America East Co-Player of the Year Jessica Phillips at the Binghamton University softball team’s annual media day: “We are ready.”

The Bearcats enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in the program’s history last year, making the America East postseason tournament for the first-ever time after finishing third in the regular season with a record of 24-24, 10-7 in-conference.

In her third season at the helm of the Bearcats, Burrell said she believes the team can go a few steps further last year’s third-place finish this time around.

“Our expectations are that we win our conference,” Burrell said. “I think we are prepared and in a good spot to do that. We are looking to win our conference championship. If we can win the regular season, that’s great. Playing at home will give us an advantage going on to the postseason.”

According the preseason coaches’ poll, however, the Bearcats sit third on the list of favorites to be crowned as champions at the end of the America East tournament. Seven-time tournament winner Boston University is the overwhelming preseason favorite to claim the conference title this year, receiving five out of the six possible first-place votes. Defending champion University at Albany was selected to finish second behind the Terriers.

University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Stony Brook University, University of Maine and University of Hartford rounded out the preseason poll after the Bearcats.

Binghamton lost just two players from last year’s squad, leaving Burrell encouraged by the experience of her roster, which includes four seniors and four juniors.

“Some of our starters from last year are moving around position-wise a little bit,” she said. “This year we will feel a lot more experienced than we have been in the past.”

Among the returnees is junior outfielder Phillips, who claimed America East Co-Player of the Year honors last season after leading the Bearcats’ offense in batting average (.435), on-base percentage (.576), slugging percentage (.863) and home runs (14).

Phillips is looking for a faster start than last season and has reiterated Burrell’s belief in the team’s ability to go the distance this year.

“I think we all look really good,” Phillips said. “Last year was a slower start to the season. I think we were in the cages pretty much until the end of February. Everybody was anxious and ready to go, so I think this year we are ready … We have everything we need to succeed. We’ve just got to work together.”

Senior outfielders and captains Andrews and Tucker are also raring to go and give their all for one last season.

“I think this team is heading for another successful year,” Andrews said. “[Our returning players] are going to feel more comfortable on the field, and they are ready to excel. So [I can definitely see] us making it to the conference tournament again, and this time having a lot more confidence and poise than we did last year.”

Tucker, who earned second-team all-league honors in each of the past two seasons, echoed Andrews’ sentiments.

“We do have a lot of players that are really dedicated to the sport and work really hard in the offseason to make sure that we come back ready to play,” she said.

Additional returning players include sophomore utility player Lisa Cutrona, who was named both second-team all-conference and all-rookie last year, sophomore infielder Mikala King, all-rookie sophomore infielder Jessica Bump and junior outfielder and catcher Shannon Kane.

The Bearcats also retain all four pitchers from last year — senior Kristen Emerling, juniors Rhoda Marsteller and Kate Price and sophomore Demi Laney.

The Bearcats are set to get their season underway today at the Florida Gulf Coast Tournament, where they are set to face Boston College at 11:15 a.m. and University of Delaware at 1:30 p.m. Binghamton is then scheduled to continue the weekend with games against The University of Tennessee at Martin (9 a.m. tomorrow), Saint Louis University (11:15 a.m.) and host Florida Gulf Coast University (1:30 p.m. Sunday).

“We have been lucky enough to get outside for a couple of days,” Burrell said. “We are prepared and ready to start.”