After major victories in their opening weekend, the Bison softball team traveled to North Carolina to continue their early-season success at the Campbell Invitational. The Bison boosted their season record by winning four of their five games, with Raeanne Geffert ’20 cementing herself in program history with an outstanding individual performance.

The weekend began with a 1-1 finish after two close games during Friday’s play. The Bison first grabbed a 5-4 win over Howard University, setting a season-high of 11 hits while recovering from an early 0-1 deficit. A quick response between the second and fourth inning consisted of five runs for the Orange and Blue, although Howard narrowed the gap to one run in the sixth. Geffert then took the mound and only gave up a single hit to secure the win.

In the second game of the day, the Bison fell 3-5 against host Campbell University. Stiff competition kept the game close in regulation, as Kailyn Lorberter ’23 and Halie Mariano ’20 pushed the score to 3-2 with singles in the fourth inning. After finishing regulation with the score tied at 3, the game ultimately ended in a two-out walk-off home run for Campbell in the ninth inning.

The Orange and Blue had a clean sweep on Saturday, defeating Mount St. Mary’s 5-0 and Saint Francis 5-2. Geffert set a new career-high with 16 strikeouts in the first game of the day. Victory over the Saint Francis Red Flash marked the team’s second win of the season over the three-time Northeast champions, along with a season-high of 12 hits.

“Overall we had a really good weekend and played hard. Of course, we still have things to work on, but going 4-1 this weekend makes us pretty confident going into this weekend. This year we have a really good mix of team chemistry and talent. I am very excited to see where this takes us this season,” outfielder Jess Hom ’21 said.

In the final game of the weekend, the Bison again defeated Mount St. Mary’s after a strong response to Saturday’s defeat. The Mountaineers gained an early lead that left the Orange and Blue trailing 4-1, but a five-run fourth inning secured the lead. Lauren Lichtenwalner ’20 contributed two runs with a single hit, while Chase Knapp ’23 grabbed her first career triple to add two more runs to the board.

Geffert finished the weekend having set three new program records for all-time career leader in strikeouts, innings pitched and wins. Friday’s game against Howard marked her 465th career strikeout, ultimately concluding the weekend with 505.

Sunday’s rematch against the Mountaineers ended with 579.2 innings pitched for Geffert, breaking a nearly 30-year-old record while also breaking the record career wins. Her 16-strikeout performance on Sunday came one shy of topping the record for strikeouts in a game.

The Bison will return to North Carolina to face Indiana, NC State and Saint Joseph’s this coming weekend.