BALTIMORE - UMBC sophomore third baseman Shanel Stott (Cumberland, Md./Allegany) ripped a two-out single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to break up a scoreless tie and give UMBC a 1-0 extra-inning win over Binghamton to take the America East Conference series, two games to one. 

The teams played a non-conference game in the nightcap of the doubleheader and the Bearcats triumphed, 4-2. 

The Retrievers are now 13-7 overall on the campaign as they played in conference contests for the first time in 2021. Binghamton is 6-6 overall and fell to 2-6 in league play. 

In the ninth, freshman first baseman Ashley Della Guardia (Phoenixville, Pa.) singled to left field and advanced to second as centerfielder Sierra Pierce (Youngstown, Ohio) ripped a single off the left field fence. After a fly out, both runners moved up a base on a ground out to second base. Then, Stott pulled reliever Rayn Gibson's pitch over the left fielder's head to score Della Guardia with the game's lone run. 

UMBC sophomore pitcher Courtney Coppersmith (York, Pa.) was brilliant, fanning 16 Bearcat hitters and allowing only three hits and no walks in nine innings. The 16 strikeouts is one shy of her career high, set twice in the 2019 campaign. 

Binghamton pitcher Hannah Mearns matched Coppersmith, putting up zeroes on the scoreboard for the first eight innings. She departed after allowing the two singles to start the ninth inning. 

In addition to her prowess on the mound, Coppersmith went 2-for-3 at the plate. She escaped her most serious trouble in the eighth, as Binghamton got a runner to third base with one out. But she fanned the next two batters to preserve the shutout.

UMBC took a 1-0 lead in the nightcap, as sophomore third baseman Madison Wilson (Abingdon, Md./Garrison Forest School) singled home catcher Karly Keating (Orlando, Fla.) on with two outs. 

But the Bearcats put up two runs in the third and fifth innings to take a 4-1 advantage. Sophomore DP Madison O'Berg (Lorain, Ohio) contributed UMBC's lone extra-base hit of the day, a one-out, sixth-inning double to plate freshman catcher Brooke Dooley (Bear, Del.) and bring the tying run to the plate. But Binghamton reliever Morgan Bienchowski retired the next five Retrievers in order to earn the split of games on the day and in the series.     

UMBC is slated to visit UAlbany in a weekend series on April 17-18.