ORONO, Maine - The Black Bears are back in action after a week break when their series at UMBC last weekend was cancelled, and in their first game since March 15th when they played Miami, they will face the St. John's Red Storm for a double-header Saturday at 11:30 am and a single game on Sunday at 1pm.
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Last Time Out
The Black Bears have been off since March 15th when they lost to the Miami Hurricanes 7-2 in Coral Gables. Maine was unable to get anything going in the early-game as they were shut out for six innings, not scoring their first run until the top of the seventh on a sacrifice groundout scored Lou Della from third base, and the following inning a
Jeremy Pena double scored
Tyler Schwanz from third; Miami added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to cap off their 7-2 victory.
A Look at the Black Bears
After the two-game series with Miami the Black Bears now sit at a 6-10 overall record, 0-6 away and 6-4 on neutral turf. They are led in batting average by
Christopher Bec, who leads the team with a .368 batting average, while also leading the team in hits with 25 and RBIs with eight. He and
Tyler Schwanz have scored a team-high 12 runs on the season, while Schwanz holds the team-high for home runs with two on the season.
On the mound the Black Bears have seen a three-game rotation from
Justin Courtney,
Jonah Normandeau, and
Nick Silva, going a combined 3-3, with all three pitchers seeing action in four starts.
Justin Courtney comes into the weekend with an ERA of 5.24, a 2-1 record, 22.1 innings of work, allowing 23 hits and striking out 23. Normandeau has an 0-2 record with 5.57 ERA on 21.0 innings pitched, he's struck out 18 while allowing 22 hits. Two-time America East Pitcher of the Week
Nick Silva touts a 1-0 record, team-best 2.45 ERA, 16 hits, 18 strikeouts on 22.0 innings pitched.
Scouting the Red Storm
The Red Storm continue their impressive streak as they are now 15-2 winning six of their last eight games. Their last outing was a 12-9 victory over Saint Peter's and the Red Storms scored eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to come back from a 6-3 deficit. They are led by John Valente who leads the team in batting average with .474, and hits with 36. Along with him, Jesse Berardi has a team-high 20 RBIs and has two home runs, which is tied for most of the team. On the mound, the Red Storm have seen five starts from Ryan McAullife (3-0, 1.08 ERA, 25.0 IP, 21 Ks), four starts from Michael LoPresti (3-0, 4.91 ERA, 18.1 IP, 23 Ks) and three starts from Kevin Magee (3-0, 2.50 ERA, 18.0 IP, 14 Ks.)
-UMaine-
