ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine returns home to close out the non-conference portion of its regular season schedule when it hosts Sacred Heart for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 21 at 11 a.m.
Â
LACE UP FOR PEDIATRIC CANCER:
On Saturday when Maine meets Sacred Heart, members of the Black Bears will lace up in Go4TheGoal gold laces to help raise awareness for pediatric cancer research and support. Lace Up 4 Pediatric Cancer
® started in 2011 in answer to requests from youth soccer teams in New Jersey that wanted to show their commitment to the fight against pediatric cancer. $4.00 from every pair of $5.00 laces plus 100% of donations go back to helping kids with cancer and their families in the state the funds are raised. Please join us in supporting this wonderful cause and consider a donation today.
Donate for the Goal Here
SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS: (16-18)
The Black Bears will close their non-conference slate this weekend, fresh off the heels of a non-conference doubleheader at Rhode Island on Wednesday. Against the Rams, Maine dropped game one of the two-game set, 5-3, before falling in game two by a 3-2 final. In the losses,
Rachel Carlson tallied six hits, going 3-for-4 in each game, to stretch her streak of reaching base safely to 10 consecutive games.
Alyssa Derrick blasted her fourth home run of the season while adding four hits, two runs and two RBI.
Carlson, who is hitting .444 against America East competition, ranks fifth overall in the league with a .381 mark at the dish. The senior center fielder leads all America East hitters with 43 hits and checks in second with 21 runs scored. Carlson, the league's leader in triples (4), has posted 12 multi-hit games, including an impressive seven three-hit performances. Carlson also leads the Black Bears in on-base percentage (.445), total bases (54) and stolen bases (5).
Maddie Decker is hitting .292 and ranks fifth in the league with 21 RBI. Decker, who has notched three home runs, leads the Black Bears with 13 walks and has also recorded a team-best five multiple RBI games.
Laurine German is posting a .287 average and ranks second on the team with 16 runs scored. German enters the weekend riding Maine's current longest hit streak (6).
Erika Leonard has notched eight multi-hit games and is hitting .333 in league play and .260 overall. Leonard is tied for second on the team with 16 runs scored to go along with 10 RBI.
Alyssa Derrick leads the Black Bears with four home runs and is tied for the league-lead with 23 RBI.
Annie Kennedy has been impressive in the circle for the Black Bears. Kennedy's league-low 1.37 ERA has helped her reach career-highs in wins (8) and strikeouts (67). Kennedy is 4-1 in America East action with a 1.08 ERA against league foes. The senior hurler has walked just 10 batters in 91.2 innings and ranks fifth in the country with a mark of 0.76 walks allowed per seven innings. Kennedy ranks 14th nationally with a 6.70 strikeout-to-walk ratio and is 33rd in the nation with a 1.37 ERA.
Kyleigh O'Donnell, the reigning America East Rookie of the Week after striking out a career-high 12 against UMass Lowell, is 4-6 on the season with a 3.73 ERA and 52 strikeouts over 60.0 innings. O'Donnell features a 1.17 ERA in league play, striking out 27 opposing league hitters in 24.0 innings.
Lilly Volk is 1-2 with a 3.37 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 35.1 innings while senior
Molly Flowers has notched a pair of wins with 39 strikeouts in 36.1 innings of work.
As a unit, the Black Bears are hitting .243 and rank second among America East leaders with a 3.17 team ERA.
SCOUTING SACRED HEART: (24-15)
The Pioneers are riding a four-game win streak into this weekend's play after most recently defeating Yale, 8-0, on Wednesday. Sacred Heart is 6-7 this season on the road, last playing away from home back on April 8 when it split a doubleheader at Stony Brook.
Sacred Heart has been sound on the defensive side of the ball. The Pioneers rank 20th in the nation with a 1.85 team ERA and 14th nationally with a 0.975 fielding percentage. Emily Orosco, who ranks third among the nation's leaders with 10.7 strikeouts per seven innings, is 10-3 on the year with a 1.41 ERA. Orosco has fanned an impressive 153 batters in 99.0 innings, tossing five complete game shutouts in 14 starts. Kristen McCann is 10-9 on the year with a 2.07 ERA to go along with 139 strikeouts in 128.2 innings.
Hailey Desrosiers leads the Pioneer offense, hitting .298 with a team-highs in hits (39), RBI (18) and home runs (4) to go along with 22 runs. Fallon Bevino checks in at .291 with four home runs and 17 RBI while Lauren Delgadillo is hitting .279 with a team-best 24 runs scored. Kylee Harvey is adding a .316 mark in 29 games.
SERIES:
Dating back to 2003, Maine is 3-0 against the Pioneers. The Black Bears swept a doubleheader last season at Sacred Heart, winning by scores of 3-2 and 4-0. Prior to last year's meeting, Maine also defeated Sacred Heart back in 2009 by a final of 1-0. Last season, the Black Bears drove Orosco out of the game in the second inning after plating three runs in the top of the second.
Maddie Decker homered in game one and
Meghan Royle finished the day 3-for-5 with an RBI.
Molly Flowers tossed a complete game, four-hit shutout with seven strikeouts in game two.
-UMaine-
Â
