ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine baseball team will begin its Spring Break trip with a four-game series at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley this weekend.
 

WATCH: Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4

LISTEN: WGUY 1230AM Game 1 Game 2 Game 3 Game 4

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Series Information
Maine Black Bears at Texas-Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros
DATE: Friday, March 9, 2018-Sunday, March 11, 2018
SITE: Edinburg, Texas | UTRGV Baseball Stadium
2018 Records: Maine 3-8, UTRGV 7-6
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Probable Starters
Game 1 (8 p.m., Friday, March 9): Maine (RHP Justin Courtney, 1-1, 2.55) | UTRGV (RHP Carter Johnson, 1-1, 3.00)
Game 2 (4 p.m., Saturday, March 10): Maine (LHP Eddie Emerson, 0-1, 4.91)   | UTRGV (LHP Jorge Flores 1-1, 5.56)
Game 3 (*8 p.m., Saturday, March 10): Maine (LHP Trevor DeLaite, 1-0, 2.45) | UTRGV (RHP Trevelle Hill, 2-1, 2.84)
Game 4 (1 p.m.., Sunday, March 11):  Maine (RHP Chris Murphy, 0-3, 18.32) | UTRGV (RHP Chase Adams, 2-1, 4.34)

Maine game notes

What's on Tap
• The University of Maine and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley will play a four-game non-conference series this weekend in Edinburg, Texas.

Last Time Out
• UMaine had a three-game series at perennial powerhouse Miami last weekend, going 1-2 against the then-No. 24 team in the country.
• The Black Bears topped the Hurricanes in the first game, 6-1, behind a strong performance from Justin Courtney and timely hits from Christopher Bec and Jonathan Bennett.
• Maine entered the ninth inning of Saturday's game down by two but a two-out double from Caleb Kerbs tied it up at 4-4 to send it to extra innings, with Miami ultimately winning the 15-inning thriller, 7-6.
• The Black Bears scored first – for the second-straight game – on Sunday but a big fifth inning from the Hurricanes helped the hosts to a 7-1 win.
• Maine had five players record six multiple-hit games on the weekend in Brandon Vicens, Danny Casals, Bec, Kerbs, Kevin Doody and Bennett twice.
• The Black Bears recorded a season-high 13 hits in the 15-inning game on March 3.

The Black Bears, In Brief
• Jonathan Bennett leads Maine with a .300 batting average, is tied for the team-lead in RBIs (6) and is second on the team in hits (12), trailing only Jeremy Pena (13); Caleb Kerbs is batting .289 and has 11 hits – including three doubles – and six RBIs.
• As a team, Maine has recorded at least seven hits in seven-straight games, with a season high 13 coming at Miami on March 3.
• 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.
• 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.
• Maine returns three players in Christopher Bec, Jeremy Pena and Brandon Vicens that started all 54 games last season as well as Hernen Sardinas (53 games), Jonathan Bennett (52) and Caleb Kerbs (52).
• 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).
• 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 and right-handed relief pitcher Cody Laweryson earned a spot after posting a 4-2 record with a 3.55 ERA in 33.0 innings pitched and 33 strikeouts.  

About Texas-Rio Grande Valley
• UTRGV had a midweek game against No. 4 Texas Christian on Tuesday, falling 7-2 in the road contest.
• It was the Vaqueros' second contest this season against a ranked team, as they hosted No. 3 Texas Tech on Feb. 27, dropping a close 3-1 game.
• The Vaqueros started the 2018 season with four-straight wins, with two each coming against Central Michigan (7-6, 6-3) and Stephen F. Austin (6-4, 11-5).
• Elijah Alexander is batting a team-best .388 on a team-high 19 hits, while three other players are sporting averages over .300.
• Derek Matlock is in his first season as head coach of the Vaqueros, who were picked to finish seventh in the Western Athletic Conference Preseason Poll

Series History vs. Texas-Rio Grande Valley
• Friday's game marks the 14th all-time meeting between Maine and UTRGV, with the Vaqueros holding an edge of 11-2 in the series.
• This is the first meeting between the teams since UTRGV inherited the NCAA Division I status of the University of Texas Pan American Broncs in 2015.  
• The squads first squared off in 1980, with then named Texas-Pan American topping Maine, 10-3, and this is the first meeting since 1993, when Maine fell 8-7.

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 – who is currently tied for the team-lead in RBIs with six – 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.

Courtney Tabbed AE Pitcher of the Week…Again!
• Justin Courtney was named the America East Pitcher of the Week 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 Tuesday 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.

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.

Doubles
• The Black Bears have hit at least one double in eight of 11 games this season, including a season-high five on Feb. 24 against Ohio University.
• Jeremy Pena and Caleb Kerbs have three doubles on the year, while Brandon Vicens and Cody Pasic have two apiece and four players have one each.
• In 2017, Maine smacked at least one double in 48 of 54 games played, with a season-high five coming against Manhattan College on April 15.

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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