ORONO, Maine -- The University of Maine baseball team will continue conference play this weekend when Stony Brook visits Mahaney Diamond for a three-game series. Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. with Sunday's single-game first pitch also set for 12 p.m.
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Series Information
Maine Black Bears vs. Stony Brook Seawolves
DATE: Saturday, April 7-Sunday, April 8, 2018
SITE: Orono, Maine | Mahaney Diamond
2018 Records: Maine 8-19 (4-2 AE), Stony Brook 15-11 (4-2 AE)
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Probable Starters
Game 1 (12 p.m., Saturday, April 7): Maine (RHP
Zach Winn, 1-0) | Stony Brook (RHP Brian Herrmann, 3-2)
Game 2 (-3 p.m., Saturday, April 7): Maine (RHP
John Arel, 2-0) | Stony Brook (RHP Bret Clarke, 2-2)
Game 3 (12 p.m., Sunday, April 8): Maine (RHP
Nick Silva, 2-2) | Stony Brook (TBD)
Maine game notes
What's on Tap
• The Black Bears will host Stony Brook for a three-game America East series this weekend at Mahaney Diamond.
Last Time Out
• Maine swept UAlbany last weekend, winning all three America East games at Mahaney Diamond.
• In Saturday's first game, UAlbany scored a run in the top of the first but Maine responded with three runs in the bottom half of the inning and never looked back en route to a 10-2 win.
• Five Black Bears had two hits each, while
Jonathan Bennett added three RBIs and
Hernen Sardinas added two;
Zach Winn went 5.2 innings, allowing just one hit for his first win of the year.
• The Black Bears won the second, seven-inning game 4-1 behind 6.1 innings from
John Arel and
Connor Johnson's first save of the year;
Brandon Vicens recorded his second two-hit game of the day and knocked in two runs.
• In Sunday's finale, Maine exploded for a 17-1 win, with
Nick Silva pitching strong innings for the win.
• Six Black Bears had multi-hit games, with
Christopher Bec smacking five and knocking in four and scoring four;
Jeremy Pena and
Danny Casals each had three hits and scored four runs.
The Black Bears, In Brief
• As a team, Maine leads the conference in hits (232), walks earned (121), is tied for the lead in home runs (16) and sits second in batting average (.255).
• Maine opened up conference play with a three-game series at Hartford March 23-24, going 1-2 at Fiondella Field.
• In Friday's game, Maine jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning but the Hawks used a four-run seventh to complete a comeback for a 5-3.
• On Saturday, Maine put six runs on the board in the second game of an America East doubleheader to win 6-1 and avenge a 1-0 loss in the first game.
• In the win, four Black Bears finished with multiple hits, including
Christopher Bec with three; Maine had 11 hits to Hartford's four.
• 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 Stony Brook
• The Seawolves are coming off a 16-game homestand, having most recently played Iona on Wednesday night and falling, 10-6, to end the home slate with a 9-7 mark and an overall record of 15-11.
• Nick Grande leads Stony Brook with a .400 batting average, 36 hits, 28 runs scored, 13 doubles and is tied for the team lead with three home runs.
• The Seawolves lead the league in batting average (.266), runs (155), doubles (63) and slugging percentage (.412).
• Head coach Matt Senk is in his 28th season at the helm of the Seawolves, who were tabbed third in the America East Preseason Coaches Poll.
Series History vs. Stony Brook
• Maine enters Saturday's first game against Stony Brook – the 79th all-time meeting between the two teams – with a record of 31-47 in the all-time series.
• Last year, Stony Brook swept Maine in the regular season three-game series but the No. 5-seeded Black Bears topped the No. 3-seeded Seawolves, 3-0, in the America East conference tournament.
• In the tournament win,
Nick Silva pitched 8.2 innings in getting the win, allowing just three hits and striking out 10.
• The Black Bears and Seawolves first met in 2002, with Maine getting a 3-2 at home.
• Maine's longest win-streak in the series is four games during the 2006 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.
• 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.
Two-or-Fewer
• Maine's pitching staff enters Saturday's doubleheader having limited opponents to two-or-fewer runs in the last five games.
• The last time Maine held opponents to two-or-fewer runs in five-straight games came during the 2008 season (6-2, 1-2, 1-2, 3-2, 0-0).
• The longest such streak for the Black Bears in 2017 was two games, twice.
Reaching Safely
•
Hernen Sardinas has reached base safely in 11 straight games while
Brandon Vicens has done it in nine consecutive contests.
Stat Check
•
Jeremy Pena leads Maine in batting average (.297), hits (33), and is second in doubles (6) while
Danny Casals is tops in slugging percentage (.488), RBIs (20), home runs (4) and on-base percentage (.427).
•
Hernen Sardinas ranks first for Maine in doubles (7) and is second in hits (30), home runs (3) and RBIs (17).
•
Jonathan Bennett and Casals have each earned 17 walks on the year, which ties them for the league lead.
•
Kevin Doody's five sacrifice bunts leads the conference while his seven stolen bases rank fourth.
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 5.0 innings in relief, allowed one run on five hits and struck out nine and walked 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 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.
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