VESTAL, N.Y. – The higher seeds all prevailed on day one of the 2022 America East Softball Championship as Binghamton, UMass Lowell and Hartford all posted victories Wednesday at the Bearcats Softball Complex on the campus of Binghamton University.
The fourth-seeded Bearcats posted a 5-3 comeback win over fifth-seeded Hartford in the first game of the day while third-seeded UMass Lowell scored twice in each of the first three innings en route to a 7-1 win over sixth-seeded Maine in the second contest. The Hawks bounced back with a 5-4 comeback win over the Black Bears in game three, the first elimination game of the
tournament.
Day two of the tournament begins with top-seeded UMBC hosting fourth-seeded Binghamton at 11:00 a.m. followed by second-seeded UAlbany and third-seeded UMass Lowell at 1:30 p.m. Fifth-seeded Hartford will take on the lowest-seeding losing team among the teams competing earlier in the day.
2022 #AESB Championship Day 1 Recap
Binghamton 5, Hartford 3
- Binghamton (21-21) scored five times in the fifth and sixth innings to comeback from a 3-0 deficit and beat Hartford, 5-3.
- Chloe Morgan’s two-run single in the bottom of the sixth broke a 3-3 tie. She went 3-for-4 on the day.
- The Bearcats had tied the game on a base loaded walk by Alayna Harbaugh, an America East All-Rookie choice.
- The Hawks wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as they took a 1-0 lead on Jordan Nastos RBI single.
- Haley Cassidy and Julianna Kocenski each blasted solo homers in the third and fourth, respectively to make it 3-0 Hartford.
- Sophia Pappas earned the win by hurling four shutout innings in relief.
UMass Lowell 7, Maine 1
- UMass Lowell (27-18) scored seven times in the first four frames on its way to a 7-1 win over Maine.
- The River Hawks’ first two runs came on a hit by pitch and RBI groundout in the first.
- Maine cut the deficit to 2-1 as Kelby Drews scored on a ball lost in the sun
- Cayla Tulley’s sacrifice fly in the second scored a pair of runs as Becca Vaillancourt hustled home from second to make it 4-0.
- Vaillancourt, a second-team All-Conference selection, delivered a two-run double in the third to giver her team a 6-0 advantage. She went reached base three times, drove in two runs and scored two.
- Wendi Hammond went six strong innings to earn her 11th win of the season.
Hartford 5, Maine 4
- Hartford (17-29) scored twice in the seventh to avoid elimination with a 5-4 thrilling comeback win over Maine (8-37).
- Izzy Neiblas gave Maine an immediate lead in the first, driving a two-run double to the left-center gap to give her team a 2-0 lead.
- Hartford got one back in the home half of the fourth on Kelsey Galveich’s run-scoring single up the middle.
- Haley Cassidy tied the game with an RBI single in the fifth.
- Gabby Papushka’s two-run blast in the top of sixth proved to be the difference as Maine (8-37) avoided elimination with the 4-3 win.
- The Hawks drew within one on Chandler Mitchell’s run-scoring single to left in the sixth.
- Samantha Nagel and Paige Fedak delivered RBI singles in the seventh. It was Fedak’s that plated the game-winning run.
Stay up-to-date on the tournament by visiting Championship Central for streaming and live stats links. After the game, visit for box scores and recaps in addition to team information, tournament history and more.
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