ORONO, Maine - Conference play will continue this weekend for the University of Maine baseball team when the Black Bears travel to Maryland to take on the UMBC Retrievers. A doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday while a single game is set for 12 p.m. on Sunday.
If at the conclusion of Saturday's first game it is too dark to play the second game, Sunday will become a doubleheader.
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Series Information
Maine Black Bears at UMBC Retrievers
DATE: Saturday, April 28-Sunday, April 29
SITE: Baltimore, Md. | Alumni Field
2018 Records: Maine 11-25 (6-6 AE), UMBC 14-20 (6-6 AE)
Maine game notes
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What's on Tap
• Maine and UMBC are currently tied for third place in the America East and will meet this weekend in Baltimore for a critical three-game series.
Last Time Out
• Last weekend, Maine traveled to UMass Lowell and dropped two out of the three conference contests.
• Maine nearly swept the doubleheader after winning the first game 9-4 and then getting a no-hitter from
John Arel but the River Hawks escaped with a 1-0 win.
•
Jeremy Pena finished the day 3-for-5 while earning four walks and scoring a run and
Hernen Sardinas was 5-for-9 with two RBIs and one run scored.
• Arel's no-hitter was the first for Maine since the 1987 season when George Goldman did it against Husson.
• UMass Lowell fended off a comeback from Maine in Sunday's finale, holding on for a 9-8 win.
The Black Bears, In Brief
• In non-conference play, Maine split a doubleheader on April 13, falling 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;
• 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.
• Maine hosted Stony Brook April 7-8, splitting a doubleheader and dropping a single game.
• 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 and exploded for a 17-1 win on April 1.
About UMBC
• The Retrievers are coming off a midweek win over Towson, with the 13-0 home win moving them to 14-20 overall this season.
• In its last America East series, UMBC took two of three from Stony Brook and stand at 6-6 in conference play overall.
• Zack Bright is hitting .298 with a team-high 34 hits for UMBC while AJ Wright also has 34 hits, including 16 doubles, while hitting .281 and slugging a team-best .463.
• Four Retrievers have at least five stolen bases and five players have slugging percentages above .405.
• UMBC, the defending America East Champion, was tabbed sixth in the preseason coaches poll.
Series History vs. UMBC
• Maine enters Saturday with a record of 42-14 in the all-time series with UMBC.
• The teams played three times in 2017, splitting the first two meetings before clashing in the America East Tournament title game; the Retrievers took that 10-inning contest, 2-1.
• The Black Bears and Retrievers first met during the 2004 season, with Maine sweeping a three-game road series (6-2, 9-1, 10-7).
• Maine started the series with UMBC with five-straight wins and had a 21-game winning streak from 2009-13.
Stat Check
•
Danny Casals is tops on the team in home runs (8), RBIs, (28), slugging percentage (.543), on-base percentage (.410) and walks (23) while
Christopher Bec leads Maine with in batting average (.297).
•
Jeremy Pena has team-highs in hits (41) and triples (3).
•
Kevin Doody leads the conference with eight sacrifice bunts.
Arel's No-No
•
John Arel threw a no-hitter in the second game of Maine's doubleheader at UMass Lowell on April 21 but ended up taking the loss in the seven-inning contest.
• The senior struck out 12 batters on the afternoon while walking three.
• The River Hawks scored the lone run on a wild pitch in the bottom of the third inning.
• Arel retired the final nine batters that he faced, sitting down eight of them with strikeouts.
• It was the program's first no-hitter against a Division I opponent and first for Maine since the 1987 season when George Goldman did it against Husson.
• The complete game effort was also the first of the season for the Black Bears.
• Despite losing the game, Arel's dominance led to his first career America East Pitcher of the Week honor.
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).
• The 21 hits are the most for an America East team in a single game this season, and coupled with Maine's 18 hit performance against UAlbany on April 1, Maine has two of the top three single-game outputs on the season in the conference.
•
Jonathan Bennett had five of those hits, 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.
Hitting Streaks
•
Kevin Doody has recorded a hit in the last five games that he has played while
Christopher Bec has hit safely in the last three games.
•
Jeremy Pena,
Brandon Vicens and
Jonathan Bennett have all had team-long, eight-game streaks this season.
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.
• Seven of Maine's runs were scored with two outs.
• 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.
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-
