After securing Binghamton softball’s second-ever AE Championship, overseeing several program-record shattering performances and building Binghamton softball’s recognition on a national stage, the Pipe Dream Sports Desk has chosen Jess Bump as Pipe Dream’s Coach of the Year for 2024-2025.
A Broome County native, Bump’s path to becoming Binghamton Softball’s head coach began in 2011 with her freshman year as a student athlete on the Binghamton softball team. During her four-year playing career, Bump was named to two first-team America East teams and one Eastern College Athletic Conference first-team.
Within a year of graduating, she became a graduate assistant coach on a Kentucky squad that qualified for the NCAA Super Regionals. The following year, Bump worked as the top assistant softball coach at Lafayette, during which Lafayette broke the program record for fielding percentage.
With two years of Division I coaching experience under her belt, Bump returned to Binghamton in 2017, where she was Binghamton’s top assistant softball coach. In August 2021, she was named the program’s head coach.
After improving the Bearcats’ AE record from 6-11 to 7-8 during her first year under tenure, the program made large strides in 2023, finishing 13-7 in AE play. Bump oversaw the program’s best finish under her leadership in 2024 with a 14–6 AE record, while capturing a share of the America East regular season championship before falling short in the playoffs.
While Binghamton opened the 2025 season with a 14-9 record in non-conference play, the Bearcats got off to an unassuming 3-2 start in conference play. BU, however, executed a nearly spotless second half of the season, finishing with a 13-0 record in AE play and a 3-1 record in non-conference play.
The Bearcats continued to dominate during the AE playoffs, winning all three matches while outscoring opponents 16-4 and capturing the program’s second-ever AE Championship to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Binghamton’s historic year saw Bump earn her second consecutive AE softball Coach of the Year, also being named the ECAC Softball Coach of the Year.
Binghamton’s presence in the AE awards would not stop with Bump, as the Bearcats swept the major awards: sophomore infielder Elisa Allen as Player of the Year; junior pitcher Brianna Roberts as Pitcher of the Year; and freshman infielder Rachel Carey as Rookie of the Year. At the Division I level, Allen and junior catcher Emma Lawson ranked highly — Allen finished fourth in the country with 0.46 home runs per game and Lawson finished No. 11 in sacrifice flies with six.
BU also saw recognition nationally, finishing the year ranked No. 17 in the D1Softball.com Mid-Major Poll and No. 77 in Division I RPI. Binghamton also finished No. 20 in the nation with 1.36 home runs per game and No. 33 with a 2.80 team ERA. Its 68 home runs were good for first in program history and its .720 winning percentage and 36 wins were first and second-best, respectively.
Binghamton earned the No. 3 seed in the four-team, double-elimination Oregon regionals, but BU struggled at times during the event, dropping its first match against No. 16 nationally ranked Stanford 9-2 and being eliminated by Weber State in a close 7-4 battle. Despite not winning a game at the NCAA Tournament, an appearance this early in Bump’s coaching career displays that BU softball is a presence on the national stage, and we look forward to following Bump as she continues to build the program.