ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine baseball team resumes America East play this weekend when it heads to UMass Lowell River for a three-game series at LeLacheur Park. Saturday's doubleheader is set to being at 12 p.m. while Sunday's single game is also scheduled for a 12 p.m. start.
Â
Series Information
Maine Black Bears at UMass Lowell River Hawks
DATE: Saturday, April 21-Sunday, April 22, 2018
SITE: Lowell, Mass. | LeLacheur Park
2018 Records: Maine 10-23 (5-4 AE), UMass Lowell 15-18 (6-6 AE)
Maine game notes
--------------
What's on Tap
• Maine returns to conference play this weekend with a three-game series at UMass Lowell.
Last Time Out
• Maine played three non-conference games last weekend in New Jersey, splitting two tilts with Monmouth and falling to Sacred Heart.
• In a doubleheader on April 13, Maine fell to Sacred Heart in the first game in the bottom of the ninth, 9-8, before coming back to top Monmouth, 15-10, in the second.
• Maine had 21 hits in the win against the Hawks, the most in a game for the Black Bears since collecting 21 in an 18-10 win at Lafayette on April 30, 2015;
John Arel pitched 5.0 innings for the win, giving up three runs on four hits while striking out five and walking three.
• The Black Bears finished with six home runs on the day - three in each game and three from
Danny Casals.
• On April 14, Maine jumped out to an early lead but ultimately fell to Monmouth, 7-3;
Danny Casals finished the day 2-for-4 with two doubles while
Hernen Sardinas and
Caleb Kerbs were both 2-for-3.
Jeremy Pena also added one hit.
The Black Bears, In Brief
• Maine hosted Stony Brook April 7-8, splitting a doubleheader and dropping a single game.
• The Black Bears fell in the first game of the twin bill, 4-1, but came back for a win in the second game, 4-2.
•
Colin Ridley finished with three hits, two RBIs and one run scored on the day while
Jonathan Bennett,
Danny Casals and
Kevin Doody each had two hits. The Black Bears collected six hits in each game for a doubleheader total of 12.
• Maine swept UAlbany in its home opening weekend, winning all three America East games at Mahaney Diamond, March 31-April 1.
• Maine took the doubleheader on 10-2 and 4-1 wins before exploding for a 17-1 win on April 1.
• Maine opened up conference play with a three-game series at Hartford March 23-24, going 1-2 at Fiondella Field.
• The Black Bears endured a tough Spring Break trip March 9-18, playing 10 games over the nine-day trip and going 1-9 against University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (1-3), University of the Incarnate Word (0-2) and New Mexico State University (0-4).
About UMass Lowell
• The River Hawks had a five-game winning streak snapped on Wednesday against No. 24 UConn, falling 14-7 at home to the Huskies.
• UML has a 6-6 mark in America East play after sweeping a three-game home series against UMBC last weekend.
• Russ Olive leads the River Hawks with a .375 batting average and .708 slugging percentage while collecting a team-best 45 hits, nine doubles, nine home runs, two triples, 22 walks and .479 on-base percentage.
• Cam Climo is tops with 31 RBIs while Steve Passatempo has a team-best 36 runs scored.
• The River Hawks were tabbed fifth in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll and currently sit fourth in the standings.
Series History vs. UMass Lowell
• Maine enters Saturday's contest with an overall record of 11-3 against UMass Lowell.
• The squads first met in 2014 at Lowell, with Maine sweeping the series (5-4, 3-2, 2-1).
• Last season, the teams played six times, with Maine going 4-2.
Stat Check
•
Danny Casals leads Maine in batting average (.301), slugging percentage (.563), on-base percentage (.431), RBIs (23) and home runs (7).
•
Jeremy Pena is tops in hits (38), triples (3), and runs scored (27) and third in slugging percentage (.434).
•
Hernen Sardinas and
Cody Pasic are tied for the team lead in doubles (7), while Sardinas is also second for the Black Bears in hits (35), home runs (4), and RBIs (20).
•
Kevin Doody leads the conference with eight sacrifice bunts.
Hitting Streaks
• Three Black Bears carry three-game hitting streaks into Saturday in
Jeremy Pena,
Caleb Kerbs and
Danny Casals.
• Pena,
Brandon Vicens and
Jonathan Bennett have all had team-long, eight-game streaks this season.
The Bats Come Alive
• When Maine had 21 hits in a 15-10 win over Monmouth on April 13, it marked the first time since April 30, 2015 that the Black Bears had 20 or more hits in a game (21 at Lafayette).
•
Jonathan Bennett had five of those hits, marking the second time this year that a Black Bears collected five hits in a game, as
Christopher Bec had five hits against UAlbany on April 1.
• The last time Maine had a player with five hits in a game was
Sam Balzano against UMBC on April 13, 2013.
Big Day for Bec and the Black Bears
• Against UAlbany on April 1,
Christopher Bec drove in four runs and had five of the team's 18 hits on the day – including two home runs – in the 17-1 win.
• The hits tally was the most for the Black Bears since collecting 21 in an 18-10 win at Lafayette on April 30, 2015.
• It was Maine's first two home run game since
Kevin Stypulkowski did it in a game at Binghamton on May 21, 2016.
• Bec's five hits were the most for a Black Bear in a single game since
Sam Balzano had five against UMBC on April 13, 2013.
• Seven of Maine's runs were scored with two outs.
Bec Named to 2018 Johnny Bench Award Watch List
• Catcher
Christopher Bec was named to the 2018 Johnny Bench Award watch list on March 6.
• The senior 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.
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.
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 fullback appeared in six games this year for the Black Bears to go with his nine appearances during the 2016 season.
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.
-UMaine-
