VESTAL, N.Y. – UMBC and UAlbany, the top two seeds in the 2022 America East Softball Championship, advanced to the winner’s bracket final with wins on the second day of the tournament on Thursday at Binghamton’s Softball Complex. In the last game of the day, Binghamton avoided elimination with a win over Hartford.
The top-seeded Retrievers eked out a 1-0 win in extra innings over fourth-seeded Binghamton in the opening game of the day while second-seeded UAlbany scored three times in each of the first two innings and held off a late charge from third-seeded UMass Lowell to post a 6-5 win in game two. Fourth-seeded Binghamton stormed back from five runs down to eliminate fifth-seeded Hartford by the score of 9-7 in the final game of the day.
UMBC and UAlbany will kick off day three of the championship at 11 a.m. with the winner’s bracket final followed by UAlbany and UMass Lowell at 1:30 in an elimination game. The UMBC-UAlbany loser will play the UALbany-UMass Lowell winner in the loser’s bracket final at 4 p.m. for a spot in the championship.
2022 #AESB Championship Day 2 Recap
UMBC 1, Binghamton 0 (8 innings)
- Logan Hawker’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth broke a scoreless tie and plated the lone run of the game to give top-seeded UMBC (29-10) the 1-0 win over fourth-seeded Binghamton.
- In the eighth, Courtney Coppersmith reached on an error and pinch runner Jaedyn McKeon went to third on Sierra Pierce’s single and an error before Hawker’s single in between third and shortstop ended it.
- Coppersmith allowed just one hit in the circle and struck out 16. Her 16 strikeouts were a new single-game tournament record.
- Binghamton pitchers Allison L'Amoreaux and Lindsey Walter combined to allow no earned runs in 7 1/3 innings.
- The win was UMBC’s seventh-straight #AEChamps win dating back to 2019.
UAlbany 6, UMass Lowell 5
- Second-seeded UAlbany (24-15) scored three times in the bottom of the third to take a 6-3 lead and held off a late UMass Lowell (27-19) rally to advance to the winner’s bracket final.
- Emma Adams led the Great Danes with two hits and four RBIs. She had a two-run triple in the third and a two-run single in the fourth.
- Lea White, Morgan Fisher and Maria Moccio each delivered run-scoring hits for UMass Lowell in the top of the third.
- After the Great Danes took a 6-3 advantage, Ellie Frederick’s homer drew UML within two at 6-4.
- In the sixth, Maria Moccio’s bases loaded walk drew the River Hawks within one but Kate Powers got a pop out and strikeout to end it and earn a save.
Binghamton 9, Hartford 7 (8 innings)
- Fourth-seeded Binghamton scored seven unanswered runs to come back from a 7-2 deficit capped by Alex Musial’s walk off home run in the bottom of the eighth to stay alive in the tournament.
- After each team plated a run in its first at bat, Binghamton took a 2-1 advantage on Mikayla Alvarez’s solo blast to center field.
- Hartford (17-32) then scored six times in the top of the fifth highlighted by Kelsey Galevich’s two-run double.
- Alli Richmond’s sac fly in the fifth made it 7-3 before Hailey Ehlers hit her first homer of the season, a two run shot in the six to draw her team within two.
- In the seventh, Sarah Rende’s sac fly and Sophia Pappas’ single plated runs, which tied it at seven.
- Musial smoked her second homer of the season in the eighth, a deep shot to left center.
- Pappas threw 3 1/3 hitless, shutout innings of relief to earn the win.
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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