VESTAL, N.Y. – In the first game of the America East Softball Championships, the third-seeded University of Hartford fell to Binghamton, the tournament's second seed and host team, by a 7-1 final on Thursday afternoon. The Hawks will return to tournament action on Friday with a 1:30 p.m. matchup against the Stony Brook Seawolves.

Hartford (21-33) matched Binghamton in hits with seven apiece, but the Bearcats strung together five in the home half of the sixth inning to break open a 1-1 tie and seal the game. Junior Zuzana Finishing with four strikeouts, Kudernatschova took the loss for the Hawks, dipping to 14-13 after allowing seven earned runs on seven hits and six walks.

Both Hartford and Binghamton (30-15) had chances to score early, but the two squads combined to strand eight base runners through the first three and a half innings. The Hawks saw their best shot at producing the game's first run in the top part of the second as they rallied for back-to-back hits.

Sophomore Jackie Kelly singled to right field for the game's first hit and sophomore Chelsey Mooney followed suit, but after the two runners each advanced 60 feet on a bunt laid down by Sawyer Fried, Hartford came up empty handed. Demi Landy, Binghamton's starting pitcher, closed the door on the visitors, ending the stanza with a strikeout and a groundout to keep the game scoreless.

In the bottom of the fourth, Binghamton broke the shutout open and took a 1-0 lead using a standup RBI double by sophomore Caitlyn Friis. Her one-out, extra-base hit plated Mikala King who reached base on four balls in the previous at-bat. That would be the only damage done by the Bearcats in that frame, though, as Kudernatschova picked up her third and fourth strikeouts of the game, punching out Colleen Dougherty and Jessica Bump for the final two outs.

Senior Melani Maxwell kept Binghamton's advantage short-lived, needing just one swing of the bat to tie up the contest. The leadoff batter for the top of the fifth, Maxwell launched a solo shot over the left field wall to quickly make it a new ball game at one run apiece. Sophomore Maggie Betz made it two-straight hits for the Hawks, but Hartford was unable to muster up the go-ahead run as Laney and the Bearcats retired the next three batters.

Binghamton did its damage in the bottom of the sixth, batting through its lineup and lighting up the scoreboard with six runs to push ahead by a 7-1 count. The rally, which began with one out, featured six consecutive batters reaching base on four hits and a pair of walks.

The offense was jump started by a double from Mikala King and continued with a walk by Caitlyn Frii. The 1-1 tie was then broken open on an RBI single off the bat of pinch hitter Griffin McIver. The momentum continued in favor of the Bearcats, who found themselves with the bases loaded following another hit, a Bump single.

With still one recorded, the Bearcats walked in one run before the home team extended its lead to three scores at 4-1 in the ensuing at-bat with Tiffany McIntosh singling in McIver's pinch runner, Colleen Doug. Binghamton saw that advantage grow to 7-1 before the inning was said and done as a sacrifice fly from Lisa Cadogan, the America East Rookie of the Year, brought one run across home plate before a Phillips double cleared the bases to cap off the scoring.

Maxwell and Betz knocked back-to-back hits in the top of the seventh to keep the Hawks alive, but Hartford quickly found itself down to its final out as Phelps hit in to a double play. Kate Price, who took over the pitching duties for Binghamton in the sixth, recorded the last out, inducing Amber Andrews into a deep outfield fly ball.

Maxwell and Betz, Hartford's seventh and eighth batters in the lineup, each finished with multiple hits. Seven different players accounted for the Bearcats' hitting on the afternoon with Jessica Phil collecting two RBI.