Following a 2024 campaign in which the No. 2 seeded Bearcats fell short in the America East playoffs, Binghamton put together a dominant 2025 softball season. In the fourth year of head coach Jess Bump’s tenure, BU earned a 16-2 AE record before going 3-0 in the AE conference tournament to win its second AE Championship. Tantamount to the Bearcats’ success was the Pipe Dream’s selection for Female Athlete of the Year, sophomore infielder Elisa Allen.
As a true freshman in 2024, Allen started 33 games and appeared in 39, slugging seven home runs and 23 RBIs and sporting a .545 slugging percentage. Allen’s 2024 campaign earned her a nod on the AE All-Rookie Team, and despite her strong rookie campaign, Allen’s game saw even more improvements this year.
Allen told Pipe Dream about her growth in the 2025 season.
“Honestly, just the mental game,” Allen said. “I think I became more confident in myself, and honestly, that was the biggest change, and I started to trust the coaches more and communicate with them more, which also led to a lot more jumps.”
Allen led the AE with 23 home runs, 56 RBIs, a 1.298 OPS and an .852 slugging percentage. Her 23 home runs accounted for the second most in a season in the AE and the Binghamton program record, and her 56 RBIs in a season ranked fourth in AE history and first in BU program history. Sporting 0.46 home runs per game, Allen ranked fifth in the country, while her .852 slugging percentage placed 26th in the nation.
“It’s been great, honestly,” Allen said. “All the girls are so welcoming, the coaches are awesome in themselves and it’s just such a good environment to work in, and obviously the academics are really good. So, all around it’s been a great few years there and I’m so excited to be staying there for another few more years.”
Allen’s 2025 campaign saw her earn three AE Player of the Week nods and be named first-team all-conference and the AE Player of the Year. Allen also saw recognition outside the conference, being selected to the NFCA All-Northeast Region third-team.
After starting in all 45 regular season games for the Bearcats, including a 5-for-7 four home run performance in a doubleheader at Maine and a four home run and 12 RBI performance in a doubleheader at Colgate, Allen led the Bearcats to a victory in the opening match of the AE conference tournament after slugging a game-tying home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Although she was held hitless through the rest of the tournament, Allen would continue to get on base in the NCAA tournament, securing a walk and HBP against No. 2 Stanford and a single in BU’s season-ending loss at No. 4 Weber State.
“[The NCAA Tournament] was the coolest thing ever,” Allen said. “I think we were all starstruck being there. Honestly, we figured out we could really compete with the best teams in the nation at that point, and it was just so cool to be there.”
On the heels of being named the AE Softball Player of the Year and winning an AE championship, Allen still possesses two years of NCAA eligibility. She said she hopes to take advantage of this opportunity by taking more of a leadership role in the team as the program looks to continue to establish itself on the national scene.
“I’m trying to be more of a leader, personally, and trying to show it more outwardly towards everybody,” Allen said. “We have a lot of people coming in next year, so I want to kind of be one of the people that they can trust. Personally, I want to be more of a leader and get myself mentally stronger and learn the game more so I can pass that on to the other groups coming in.”