ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine baseball team will take a short break from America East play on Wednesday when it heads to the University of Massachusetts to play the Minutemen in a single game. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. at Earl Lorden Field.
 

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Game Information
Maine Black Bears at UMass Minutemen
DATE: Wednesday, May 2, 2018
SITE: Amherst, Mass. | Earl Lorden Field
2018 Records: Maine 11-28, UMass 12-21
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Probable Starters
Maine (RHP Peter Kemble, 0-0) | UMass (RHP Sam Cooper, 0-2)

What's on Tap
• Maine will travel to UMass on Wednesday for a midweek, non-conference matchup.
 
Last Time Out
• Maine went on the road last weekend, dropping three conference contests to UMBC.
• Saturday's doubleheader saw Maine jump out to early leads in both contests but ultimately fall, 9-4 and 7-4.
• In game one, the Retrievers overcame a 4-0 deficit with a seven-run third inning and never looked back; Jonathan Bennett was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.
• In game two, Maine held a 3-0 edge early but UMBC used a five-run third to take back the lead; Jeremy Pena hit his fourth home run of the year in the fourth frame, but UMBC responded in kind.
• On Sunday, UMBC took a 5-0 lead into the top of the ninth and held off the Maine comeback bid; Pena and Danny Casals singled and eventually scored in the inning but the Retrievers got out of the jam.
 
The Black Bears, In Brief
• Maine went to UMass Lowell April 26-27 and dropped two out of the three conference games.
• Maine nearly swept the April 26 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; UMass Lowell fended off a comeback from Maine in Sunday's finale, holding on for a 9-8 win.
• 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.
• The Black Bears are an experienced squad, boasting eight seniors and seven juniors for 15 upperclassmen among its roster of 28 players.
• UMaine was tabbed to finished in second place in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
About UMass
• The Minutemen enter the week with an overall record of 12-21 (a mark that will change after Tuesday night's tilt at Hartford).
• UMass is coming off a three-game series against George Mason, dropping two of the three conference contests.
• Eddy Hart sports team-highs in batting average (.306), runs scored (24), hits (41), doubles (9), home runs (3) and slugging-percentage (.455), and also sports an eight-game hit streak.
• The Minutemen have an all-time record of 80-65-1 against current America East schools.
 
Series History vs. UMass
• Maine and UMass will meet for the 102nd time on Wednesday night, with Maine holding a record of 51-49-1 in the all-time series.
• The squads first met in 1898 – the 18th season of baseball for the Black Bears – with Maine earning an 8-7 win.
• Last season, Maine dropped two out of three to UMass; Maine won the first game, 4-2, before falling 5-1 and 10-6.
 
Stat Check
• Danny Casals is tops on the team in home runs (8), RBIs, (30), slugging percentage (.512), and on-base percentage (.397) while Jeremy Pena is tops in batting average (.292), hits (45), triples (3) and runs scored (31).
• Six Black Bears have at least six doubles on the year while five players have scored at least 20 runs.
• Kevin Doody, who leads the conference with eight sacrifice bunts, has a team-high 11 stolen bases on the year.
 
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 March 31, Maine has two of the top three single-game outputs on the season in the conference.
• 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.

Hitting Streaks
• 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.
• 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.

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