Baseball Travels to Stony Brook for America East Tournament
5/22/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
America East Tournament Notes
The University of Maine baseball team heads to the 2012 America East Tournament at Stony Brook this week looking to defend its 2011 title. Maine is the fourth seed in the upcoming tournament and will face 2012 regular season champion Stony Brook in the opening round. Albany and Binghamton will be in the other first round game of the double elimination tournament.
SCOUTING THE MAINE BLACK BEARS: Maine is led by Troy Black who is hitting .331 with 27 runs scored and 21 RBI. He has five doubles to go along with 17 stolen bases. Michael Fransoso has a .324 average with a team-high 55 runs scored and 25 RBI. He has 17 doubles, four triples and five home runs to go along with 19 stolen bases. Scott Heath is batting .304 with 25 runs scored and 20 RBI. He has 11 doubles on the season along with a pair of home runs. Colin Gay is hitting .299 with 31 runs scored and 27 RBI. He has seven doubles and 12 stolen bases. Alex Calbick is hitting .297 with 38 runs scored and 42 RBI. He has 18 doubles and five home runs. Fran Whitten is hitting .295 with 31 runs scored and 24 RBI. He has 11 doubles on the campaign. Ian Leisenheimer has a .293 average with 27 runs scored and 29 RBI. He has nine doubles and a pair of triples. Tyler Patzalek is batting .292 with 28 runs scored and 33 RBI. He has seven doubles and three home runs on the season. Justin Leisenheimer is batting .258 on the campaign with 28 runs scored and 25 RBI. He has seven doubles to go along with five home runs. Sam Balzano is hitting .308 with 12 runs scored and 11 RBI in 65 at-bats.
The pitching staff is led by Shaun Coughlin who is 4-4 with a 3.64 ERA. He has three complete games and a pair of saves. He has struck out 49 batters on the season. D.J. Voisine is 4-0 with a 3.86 ERA. Stephen Perakslis is 4-5 with a 3.81 ERA. Mike Connolly is 4-5 with a 5.72 ERA with a team-high three saves. Jeffrey Gibbs is 3-4 with a 7.81 ERA. He leads the team, having struck out 53 batters on the season. Jonathan Balentina has three wins on the season, while Fran Whitten has a pair.
MAINE COACHING STAFF IN 2012: Maine head coach Steve Trimper (Eastern Connecticut State University '92) is in his seventh season at the helm of the Black Bears. He has an overall record of 374-350-4 in his 14th season as a head coach. He has a record of 202-176-2 with the Black Bears. Trimper won his 200th game at Maine on Saturday, May 12 at Hartford. He is assisted by Jason Spaulding (Vermont '00), and former student-athletes Billy Cather (Maine '09) and Ryan Forrest (Maine '09).
SCOUTING THE STONY BROOK SEAWOLVES: Stony Brook is led by Travis Jankowski who is batting .397 with 59 runs scored and 35 RBI. He has 16 doubles to go along with nine triples and four home runs. He has stolen 34 bases on the season. William Carmona is hitting .390 with 50 runs scored and 55 RBI. He has 21 doubles to go along with six triples and nine home runs. Maxx Tissenbaum has a .384 average with 35 runs scored and 36 RBI. He has 14 double and three home runs. Steven Goldstein is chipping in with a .365 average with 32 runs scored and 29 RBI. He has eight doubles and 13 stolen bases. Cole Peragine is batting .335 with 35 runs scored and 35 RBI. He has 10 doubles and six triples. Tanner Nivins is hitting .333 with 30 runs scored and 32 RBI. He has 11 doubles on the campaign. Kevin Krause has a .333 average with 28 runs scored and 34 RBI. He has eight doubles and three triples.
The pitching staff is led by Tyler Johnson who is 8-1 on the season and a 1.84 ERA. He has four complete games on the season and has struck out 34. Brandon McNitt is 7-2 with a 2.20 ERA. He leads the team in innings pitched with 81.2 and has fanned 52 batters. Evan Stecko-Haley is 7-3 with a 2.49 ERA. He has thrown 76.0 innings on the season and has struck out a team-high 60. Jasvir Rakkar is 5-2 with a 3.46 ERA.
Stony Brook is coached by Matt Senk (Cortland State '80) who is in his 22nd season. He is assisted by Joe Pennucci, Mike Marron and Dave Lorber.
SCOUTING THE ALBANY GREAT DANES: Albany is led by D.J Hoagboon who is hitting .322 with 28 runs scored and 29 RBI. He has seven doubles. Josh Nethaway has a .321 batting average with 27 runs scored and 28 RBI. He has 12 doubles on the season. Mike Tirri is adding a .311 average with 29 runs scored and 41 RBI. He has 15 doubles to go along with six homers. Nolan Gaige is batting .305 with 42 runs scored and 27 RBI. He has 11 doubles and eight triples to go along with 14 stolen bases. Pete DiResta has a .297 average with 34 runs scored and 35 RBI. He has 12 doubles and five home runs. Joey Tracy is hitting .291 with 29 runs scored and 19 RBI.
The pitching staff is led by Sean Lucas who is 5-5 with a 4.76 ERA. He has struck out 50 in 70 innings. Austin Chase is 4-1 with a 4.24 ERA. He leads the team in innings pitched with 74.1. Zach Kraham is 4-5 with a 5.20 ERA. He has struck out 48 in 71 innings. Kasceim Graham is 2-5 with a 5.37 ERA. Ryan White is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA. He leads the team in saves with three.
Albany is coached by Jon Muller (Eckerd '92). He is assisted by Garett Baron (Ithaca '02), Drew Pearce (California '97) and Jeff Kaier (Albany '09).
SCOUTING THE BINGHAMTON BEARCATS: Binghamton is 22-24 on the season. The Bearcats are led by Daniel Nevares who is hitting .341 with 29 runs scored and 17 RBI. He has 10 doubles. Zach Blanden has a .302 average with 18 runs scored and 18 RBI. Jake Thomas is chipping in with a .296 average with 16 runs scored and 24 RBI. He has six doubles and three home runs. Dave Ciocchi has a .284 average with 24 runs scored and 32 RBI. He has 10 doubles and four home runs. Jordan Smucker is hitting .270 with 20 runs scored and 19 RBI. He leads the team in triples with three. Bill Bereszniewic has a .266 average with 30 runs scored and 18 RBI. He has stolen nine bases on the season.
The pitching staff is led by Jake Lambert who is 6-3 with a 3.73 ERA. Mike Augliera is 5-7 with a 3.42 ERA. He has fanned a team-high 76 batters in 73.2 innings. Jack Rogalla is 3-1 with a 4.79 ERA. Lee Sosa has a 1.06 ERA with a team-high 10 saves on the season.
Binghamton is coached by Tim Sinicki (Western Carolina '88) who is in his 20th season. He is assisted by Ryan Hurba, Ed Folli and Dustin Johnson.
200 WINS AT MAINE: Black Bear head coach Steve Trimper won his 200th game at Maine on Saturday, May 12 in the first game of a doubleheader against Hartford. The Black Bears won the game 6-3 in eight innings after a three-run home run by Michael Fransoso in the top of the eighth inning.
LITTLE BIT BETTER THAN SOSO: Junior Michael Fransoso had a weekend that was a bit better than soso the week of May 12 and 13. In the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, Fransoso belted a game-winning three run home run in the top of the eighth inning. He followed that up by jacking his second homer of the day in the second game. He finished the weekend hitting .364 with six runs scored and six RBI. He finished the weekend with a .909 slugging percentage and a .500 on-base percentage. He was a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts.
DOUBLE THE FUN:Maine has hit 102 doubles on the season. That is 13 more than it hit all of last year in five fewer games.
CAREER MILESTONES: Several Black Bears are approaching or have recently reached milestones. Alex Calbick has 27 career doubles. Michael Fransoso has 189 career hits and 47 career doubles. Colin Gay has scored 45 career runs. Justin Leisenheimer has 94 RBI, while Tyler Patzalek has driven in 92.
CROSSING HOME PLATE: Michael Fransoso has currently scored 55 runs on the season. It is the most runs for a Maine player since he scored 57 during his freshman season.
NOT EASY TO K: Junior Tyler Patzalek has struck out just 11 times in 154 at-bats this season.
STREAKING BEARS: Troy Black leads all Black Bears, having hit in nine straight games. Michael Fransoso leads the team, having reached base safely in 12 straight.
PLAYING AT HADLOCK: Maine defeated Boston College 9-4 on Tuesday, May 15 in a game played at Hadlock Field in Portland, Maine, home of the Double AA Portland Sea Dogs. It was the first time that the Black Bears had played at Hadlock since the 1998 season.
FANNING EIGHT: Sophomore Shaun Coughlin had an impressive performance against Hartford. He pitched his third complete game of the season and allowed just one run on three hits. He struck out a season-high eight batters, which tied his career high. He is second on the team, having fanned 48 batters on the season.
CLOSE TO THE CYCLE: Junior captain Michael Fransoso was close to hitting for the cycle on Wednesday, April 25 at UMass. Fransoso led off the game with a triple down the right field line. He doubled to lead off the fifth inning before belting a two-run home run in the seventh inning. He finished a single shy of the cycle.
LEISENHEIMER AT-BATS: Justin and Ian Leisenheimer are both in their fourth season with the Black Bears. They are within five at-bats of each other all-time. Ian has recorded 541 at-bats in his career, while Justin has 536 at-bats.
RECORD SETTING WEEKEND: Maine scored 76 runs in four games at UMBC the weekend of April 6 and 7. The Black Bears set a school and America East record with 32 runs in the second game on Friday. It breaks the Maine record of 27 runs set in 1976 against Husson. The Black Bears hit nine doubles on Saturday, breaking the school record of seven set in 1981 against Miami and tied four times. The Black Bears had 25 RBI in the game on Friday, just shy of the record of 27 also set in 1976 against Husson.
BACK FOR MORE: The Black Bears return 18 letterwinners from last year's squad and have brought in nine newcomers.
SAVING THE DAY: Maine has six saves on the season. Mike Connolly leads the way with three, while Shaun Coughlin has a pair and D.J. Voisine one.
17 STRAIGHT INNINGS: Maine scored a run in 17 straight innings at UMBC on April 6 and 7. In the first game of a doubleheader on Friday, Maine scored a run in the third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings. Maine scored a run in all nine innings in the second game of the doubleheader. The Black Bears then scored a run in each of the first three innings in the first game on Saturday.
OPENING WIN: Maine opened up this season with a 6-5 win at #16 Clemson. It was the first time the Black Bears won their season opener since 2008 when they swept Delaware State.
DOUBLE DIGIT HITS: Maine put up some impressive numbers during its 14-game winning streak earlier this season.
BROTHERLY LOVE: The Black Bears have three sets of brothers on the squad this season: Justin and Ian Leisenheimer, Robbie and Steve Trask, and Nick and Garrett Bernardo.
FAMILY TIES: Garrett and Nick Bernardos' father Rick Bernardo played for the Black Bears from 1983-86 and was a first team All-American.
KEEPING IT LOCAL: Maine currently has eight players from Maine and an additional 11 from the New England area.
TOUGH OPENING STRETCH: Seven of Maine's first nine games were against nationally ranked opponents: Clemson (#16), Florida State (#8), and Stetson (#19).
PERFECT RELIEF: Luke Morrill pitched 3.2 innings of perfect relief against Fordham at the Seton Hall Strike Out Cancer Tournament on March 17. He retired all 11 batters he faced, five of them on strike outs.
WHAT A BEAUT: Shaun Coughlin threw a complete game in Maine's 6-1 win over Bowling Green on March 10. He surrendered only six hits and one run. He did not issue a walk and struck out seven batters.
1800 AND COUNTING: Last year's Regional Tournament win over FIU marked the 1,800th win in program history. The Black Bears are currently 1826-1434-17.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN: Maine has four captains for the 2012: Jonathan Balentina, Michael Fransoso, Jeff Gibbs, and Justin Leisenheimer.
BLACK BEARS HONORED FOR ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE: Maine had eight student athletes earn Maine Scholar Athlete Honors for the fall 2011 semester: Sam Balzano, Garrett Bernardo, Brian Doran, and Luke Morrill were awarded the *Rising Star* honors. A.J. Bazdanes, Colin Gay and Pat Thibodeau earned Bronze Medals while Jonathan Balentina earned Double Gold Honors.
AMERICA EAST ACADEMIC HONORS: Maine had 11 student-athletes honored last spring by being named to the America East Academic Honor Roll: Jonathan Balentina*, Nick deVries, Ian Leisenheimer*, Justin Leisenheimer, Taylor Lewis, Joey Martin, Tony Patane, Carson Pillar*, Kyle Benoit, Kyle Stilphen and George Tager*. * denotes Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll with 3.5 or higher.
NEW WAYS TO FOLLOW THE BLACK BEARS: In addition to following the Maine baseball team on www.GoBlackBears.com, you can also follow the Black Bear baseball team via facebook and twitter. Become a fan of UMaine Baseball on facebook and follow the Black Bears on twitter at www.twitter.com/
