VESTAL, N.Y. – After a week off from
America East play, the UMBC softball team dropped both games of a
doubleheader at Binghamton Friday afternoon at East Gym
Field. The Bearcats took the first game, 5-1, in large
part thanks to a three-run homerun by Caitlyn Friis, and then swept
the day with a 6-1 win in the second game.
With the two losses, UMBC falls to 17-18 overall this season and
1-4 in America East play.
Senior Katie
Ferguson (North East, Md./North East/Cecil CC) took the
loss for the Retrievers in the first game after giving up five
runs, only three of them earned, on five hits. The
right-hander struck out four batters but issued three walks.
Binghamton sophomore Demi Laney picked up the win after striking
out a career-high 11 batters.
After a scoreless first inning, Binghamton cracked the tie in a
big way as Friis hit her third homerun of the year to give the
Bearcats a 3-0 lead. UMBC responded right away however,
as sophomore Jessica
Warner (Huntingtown, Md./Huntingtown) led off the top of
the third with her ninth homerun of the year.
Laney shutdown the Retrievers after that, limiting them to three
hits while the Bearcats scored two more runs in the bottom of the
fifth to provide the final four-run margin.
In game two, Binghamton took advantage of five UMBC errors,
scoring all six runs in the first four innings to pick up the
sweep.
Warner got UMBC on the board with an RBI double in the fifth
which brought around senior Ashley
Carver (Swoyersville, Pa./Wyoming Valley West) who had
pinch run for freshman Kayla
Margentino (Unionville, Conn.Farmington).
Junior Heather
Brown (Pasadena, Md./Northeast) was charged with the loss
after giving up six runs, though only two were earned, in 3.1
innings of work.
The Retrievers and Bearcats conclude their three-game series
today with a single game scheduled for 12 p.m.
