ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine baseball team is set to open America East play this weekend when it travels to Hartford to battle the Hawks in a three-game series. The first pitch of Friday's single game is set for 3 p.m. while Saturday's doubleheader is slated to start at 12 p.m.
 

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Series Information
Maine Black Bears at Hartford Hawks
DATE: Friday, March 23, 2018-Saturday, March 24, 2018
SITE: West Hartford, Conn. | Fiondella Field
2018 Records: Maine 4-17 (0-0 AE), Hartford 2-14 (1-2 AE)
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Maine game notes

What's on Tap
• The University of Maine is set to open up America East play with a three-game series at Hartford this weekend.

Last Time Out
• Maine wrapped up its Spring Break trip with a four-game series at New Mexico State University, going 0-4 in the non-conference series.
• The Black Bears scored the first run in each contest but fell in Friday and Sunday's single games by one run (6-5) and three runs (8-5), respectively, while also dropping both ends of the Saturday's doubleheader (10-6, 14-7).
• Danny Casals led Maine with eight hits in the series and nine RBIs while he also scored four runs and had three home runs; Casals had a .471 BA, 1.059 slugging percentage and .526 on-base percentage in the four-game set.
• Five players had five hits in the series, including Hernen Sardinas and Jeremy Pena who each knocked two doubles and earned four walks.
• Pena and Cody Pasic also had triples in the series and each scored five runs.

The Black Bears, In Brief
• Last week, Maine played a two-game series at University of the Incarnate Word, getting edge on March 13, 2-0, and losing a heartbreaker on March 14, 9-8, in 10 innings.
• UMaine played a four-game series at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley last weekend, going 1-3 in the non-conference games; UTRGV edged Maine, 4-3, on Friday, in a game that had entered the ninth inning tied 3-3; Maine won the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, 7-5, in extra innings but fell, 12-1, in the second half of the doubleheader.
• The team scored a season-best seven runs and despite out-hitting the Vaqueros 7-3 and the pitchers holding them to a season-low hits total on Sunday, the Black Bears fell by a 7-3 score in the series finale.
• Maine had a season-high 13 hits at then-No. 24 Miami on March 3 and also earned 11 walks in that game.
• Maine opened up the season against No. 3 Texas Tech, dropping all four games at Rip Griffin Stadium; all 10 of Maine's batters that weekend reach base at least once while nine out of 10 had at least one hit.

About Hartford
• Hartford is coming off two non-conference losses against Northeastern (3-1) and Bryant (8-6) after opening up America East play last weekend at UMBC.
• The Hawks topped the Retrievers in game one of a doubleheader, 14-3, but well in game two, 3-2, and lost the single game the following day, 9-5.
• Hartford has played two ranked teams this season, opening up the season at No. 17 South Alabama and then heading to No. 2 Oregon State the first weekend in March.
• The Hawks lost all seven contests against those ranked squads, but had a pair of one-run losses to the Beavers.
• Justin Blood is in his seventh season as head coach of the Hawks, who were tabbed seventh in the America East Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll.

Series History vs. Hartford
• Maine enter's Friday's game – the 130th meeting between the Hawks and Black Bears – with an overall record of 91-38 in the series.
• Last season, Maine went 3-1, earning a pair of wins at home (1-0, 3-2) and one loss (10-6) before going on to top the team in the conference tournament (2-1).
• Maine and Hartford first met in 1986, with Maine earning a 4-1 win on the road.

Stat Check
• Dannay Casals leads Maine in batting average (.323), slugging percentage (.548), on-base percentage (.442), home runs (4) and RBIs (16).
• Jeremy Pena has a team-high 25 hits and six doubles and also leads the team in runs scored (17) while sitting second in RBIs (11).
• Hernen Sardinas brings a six-game hitting streak into the weekend while Cody Pasic has reached base in seven consecutive contests.

Bec Named to 2018 Johnny Bench Award Watch List
• Senior catcher Christopher Bec was named to the 2018 Johnny Bench Award watch list on March 6.
• Bec was the only America East player named to the watch list for the award, which is given annually to the top collegiate catcher in Division I baseball.
• The Miami native was one of three Black Bears to play in all 54 games last season and led the team with a .340 batting average, .426 on-base percentage, 20 doubles, 30 walks earned and 21 steals.

Silva Earns Maine's Third-Straight AE Pitcher of the Week Honor
• Nick Silva was tabbed as the America East Pitcher of the Week on March 13 after he led Maine to a 7-5 victory over UTRGV on March 10, giving Maine the league's Pitcher of the Week honor for the third-straight week following the previous two by Justin Courtney.
• Silva pitched five innings in relief, allowing just one run on five hits while striking out nine and walking zero.
• The Miami, Fla. native struck out seven of the 21 batters he faced while looking.
• The weekly award is the fourth of Silva's career: Pitcher of the Week (2/21/17; 2/28/17); Rookie of the Week (5/3/16).

Courtney Tabbed AE Pitcher of the Week…Again!
• Justin Courtney was named the America East Pitcher of the Week on March 6 for the second week in a row after his performance against Miami on March 3.
• Courtney pitched six innings – no-hitting the Hurricanes through five – giving up just one hit, striking out six and walking three in 80 pitches.
• Courtney also earned the honor last week after he helped shut down Ohio University and lead the Black Bears to a 5-1 victory on Feb. 23.
• The senior tossed 7.2 innings while yielding just four hits and the one run with nine strikeouts, retired 13 straight batters from the fourth to eighth inning and he retired the side in five innings overall.
• Courtney now has six career weekly honors, with five Pitcher of the Week (5/4/15; 2/23/16; 4/11/17; 2/27/18; 3/6/18) and one Rookie of the Week (5/18/15).

Bennett Named AE Player of the Week
• Senior Jonathan Bennett earned his first career America East weekly honor on March 6 after going 5-for-13 (.385) with two RBIS and three runs scored in Maine's series at Miami.
• In addition to driving in the winning run in Maine's 6-1 win over Miami on March 2, he also earned two walks and scored two runs in a 15-inning thriller on March 3 and scored a run for the Black Bears on March 4.

Black Bear Rewind
• Maine was 25-29 last season and finished in sixth place in the America East regular season standings with an 8-12 record before fighting its way to the conference championship game. It was the first season under the guidance of then interim head coach and now head coach, Nick Derba.
• The 25 wins were the most for UMaine in four seasons, and in America East Tournament play, the Black Bears earned four-straight wins for a berth in the title game where they were edge in extra innings, 2-1, by UMBC.
• Christopher Bec earned himself the catcher slot on the America East Second Team after leading the conference with a .360 batting average in the regular season and tying for the lead in doubles (17).
• Hernen Sardinas was named to the All-Rookie team at first base after a regular season in which he hit .263 with 15 doubles, two home runs and 21 RBIs while classmate Cody Laweryson earned a spot after posting a 4-2 record with a 3.55 ERA in 33.0 innings pitched and 33 strikeouts on the mound.

On the Gridiron
• Outfielder Brandon Vicens not only plays an important role for the baseball team, but he also straps on the pads for the UMaine football team.
• The junior fullback appeared in six games this year for the Black Bears to go with his nine appearances during the 2016 season.

Pena's Prowess
• Last season, Jeremy Pena put together a 19-game hitting streak, beginning with a two-hit outing on April 9 against Hartford and ending with a two-hit outing against UAlbany on May 20.
• It was UMaine's longest streak of the season as well as the longest of Pena's career, besting a five-game mark he earned as a freshman, and the best for Maine since Danny Casals had an 11-game streak in 2016.
• The Black Bears' record for consecutive games with a hit belongs to Brian Seguin, who did it in 27 games straight during the 1990 season.
• During the 19-game streak, Pena had 12 of his 24 team-leading multiple-hit game and hit three of his team-leading six home runs.

The 135th Season
• UMaine is embarking on its 135th season of play with the 2018 season, with the Black Bears first having played during the 1881 season.
• After 134 seasons, UMaine held an overall record of 1958-1579-17 and had made 16 NCAA Tournament appearances and seven College World Series appearances.
• There have been two canceled seasons, with UMaine not fielding teams in 1892 and 1944.
• Head coach Nick Derba is the 25th coach in the history of the program.

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