Black Bears Make Run At 2012 America East Tournament
5/29/2012 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
2012 America East Baseball Photo Gallery
The University of Maine baseball team made a run at the 2012 America East Tournament, held last week in Stony Brook, N.Y. The Black Bears entered the tournament as the fourth seed. Maine dropped the opener to eventual champion Stony Brook, but then made a run. Maine defeated Albany, the second seed, 8-3 on Thursday. The Black Bears defeated third seed Binghamton 5-1 on Friday morning, before falling to Stony Brook 13-6 later in the day. The Seawolves won the title with the victory over Maine. Stony Brook enters the NCAA Regionals with the nation's best winning percentage.
Maine had three players named to the 2012 America East All-Tournament Team. Fran Whitten (Westborough, Mass.) earned a spot on the team after belting a pair of home runs. Whitten hit a three-run shot against Stony Brook and then hit a grand slam on Thursday in the first inning against Albany. He finished the tournament with eight RBI. Ian Leisenheimer (Middle Village, N.Y.) also earned a spot on the team. He had a hit in all four games and finished with three RBI. He scored the winning run in Maine's victory over Albany and then hit a two-run home run against Stony Brook in the second game of the day. Mike Connolly (Middleborough, Mass.) was Maine's third representative on the team. Connolly pitched eight innings in Maine's 5-1 win over Binghamton. He allowed just one run on five hits while striking out six to garner the victory.
Maine finishes the season 28-28. Sophomore second baseman Troy Black (Mississauga, Ontario) led the Black Bears with a .338 batting average. He scored 30 runs and drove in 21. He finished second on the team with 17 stolen bases. Michael Fransoso (Portsmouth, N.H.) hit .327 on the season with a team-high 59 runs scored. He had 18 doubles and five home runs to go along with 19 stolen bases. Alex Calbick (Burnaby, British Columbia) drove in a team-high 43 on the season. He also had 18 doubles and five home runs.
Stephen Perakslis (Abington, Mass.) finished 5-5 on the mound with a 3.81 ERA. Mike Connolly also finished with a team-high five wins. He led the squad in saves with three. Shaun Coughlin (Northford, Conn.) was 4-5 with a 3.98 ERA. He had three complete games, which led the team. Jeffrey Gibbs (Toronto, Ontario) led the team in strikeouts with 56. D.J. Voisine (Plainville, Conn.) finished the season 4-0.
