ORONO, Maine - The University of Maine baseball team will travel to the University of Albany this weekend for a key America East series. The Black Bears and Great Danes, who are currently tied for fifth place in the conference standings with two weeks of play remaining in the regular season, are slated to play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 2:30 p.m. before a single game on Saturday at noon.
 

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Game Information
Maine Black Bears at UAlbany Great Danes
DATE: Friday, May 11, 2018-Saturday, May 12, 2018
SITE: Albany, N.Y. | Varsity Field
2018 Records: Maine 14-29 (8-10 AE), UAlbany 18-22 (8-10 AE)
 
Last Time Out
• Maine hosted Binghamton University for a three-game series last weekend, going 2-1 on the weekend; the Black Bears dropped the first game and then bounced back for two-straight.
• Maine fell in the first game of the doubleheader, 7-4, before rallying to capture game two, 4-2. John Arel threw a complete game, retiring the final six batters that he faced and finishing with eight strikeouts while allowing two runs on four hits in his 7.0 innings pitched.
• Kevin Doody finished with three hits and one run scored and six Black Bears registered at least one hit and sevens cored at least one run.
• On Sunday, Maine jumped out to a 1-0 run and never looked back en route to a 6-1 win.
• Cody Laweryson started and pitched 5.1 innings for his first win of the season, limiting BU to five hits and one unearned run while striking out five and walking none.
• Jeremy Pena and Jonathan Bennett each finished with two hits, with Bennett collecting two RBIs and Pena scoring two runs.

The Black Bears, In Brief
• Maine traveled to UMass on May 2 and came away with a 24-5 victory at Earl Lorden Field.
• The Black Bears dropped 26 hits, 14 for extra bases, and all nine batters in the starting lineup registered at least one.
• Peter Kemble got the starting nod and tossed three strong frames; the freshman finished the afternoon allowing one run on two hits while striking out four; Chris Murphy pitched 2.0 innings of relief and allowed one run on two hits in getting the win.
• Maine went on the road April 28-29, dropping three conference contests to UMBC.
• The April 28 doubleheader saw Maine jump out to early leads in both contests but ultimately fall, 9-4 and 7-4.
• On April 29 UMBC took a 5-0 lead into the top of the ninth and held off the Maine comeback bid for a 5-2 win.
• 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.
• 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 UAlbany
• UAlbany is coming off a 7-5 loss at Niagara on Wednesday and enters the weekend 18-22 overall and 8-10 in conference play.
• Last weekend, UAlbany hosted UMass Lowell and went 1-2 in the America East series.
• As a team, the Great Danes are hitting .244, with Patrick Lagravinese leading the squad with a .294 average, 40 hits, 31 walks and a .425 on-base percentage.
• Connor Powers is tops on the team with 25 RBIs and joins Ryan Hernandez with a team-high 10 doubles.
• The Great Danes, who are 6-7 at home this season, were picked to finish fourth in the America East Preseason Coaches Poll.
• UAlbany returned six of its seven players that earned All-Conference recognition in 2017, including first team picks Dominic Savino and Powers.
 
Series History vs. UAlbany
• Maine enters Saturday's doubleheader with an edge of 43-35 in the all-time series with UAlbany after a three-game series weep earlier this season.
• The Black Bears took a March 31 doubleheader with 10-2 and 4-1 wins; every Maine batter reached base safely on the day while in game one, all of Maine's runs came with two outs.
• On April 1, Christopher Bec drove in four runs and had five of the team's 18 hits in a 17-1 win over the Great Danes.
• The squads first battled in 2002, with Maine earning a 14-6 win at home.
• The Black Bears and Great Danes met five times in the 2017 season, with Maine going 2-3.
• UAlbany had 7-6 and 3-2 (10) wins at home before Maine took a 2-1 ballgame at Mahaney Diamond in the final regular season contest; the teams then battled twice in the conference tournament, with Maine falling in the opener, 3-0, before winning the semifinal, 12-5, to eliminate UAlbany.
• Maine's longest win-streak in the series is six games between the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
 
Stat Check
• Hernen Sardinas leads Maine with his .301 average and is second in RBIs with 31 while Jeremy Pena leads the team with 51 hits and is second with a .298 average.
• Danny Casals is tops in slugging-percentage (.559), on-base percentage (.405), home runs (10) and RBIs (33).
• The Black Bears have five players with a slugging percentage of .350 or above.
• Maine not only has the top single-game hitting performance (26 hits) by an America East team this season but two of the top three overall.
• Kevin Doody is tied for the league lead in sacrifice bunts (8) is third in stolen bases (13).

Hitting Streaks
• Jeremy Pena carries a six-game hitting streak into Friday while Kevin Doody has hit safely in the past four games.
• Pena, Brandon Vicens, and Jonathan Bennett have all had team-long, eight-game streaks this season.
• Caleb Kerbs has reached base safely in the last six games while Bennett has reached base in the past four games.

Strikeout Streaks
• Eddie Emerson has struck out at least one batter in all 13 appearances in 2018 while Trevor DeLaite has registered at least one strikeout in all 10 of his appearances and Zach Winn has done in the same in all 12 of his.
• In his last five appearances, Cody Laweryson has tallied at least three strikeouts

Big Day for the Black Bear Bats
• At UMass on May 2, Maine exploded for 24 runs on 26 hits, marking the most hits in a game for the Black Bears since collecting 25 at UMBC on April 6, 2012.
• Maine had 14 extra base hits in the 24-5 win, collecting eight home runs, one triple, and five doubles.
• It was Maine's first time with at least five home runs in a game since April 10, 2008 against Husson and it also tied for the second most in an NCAA DI baseball game this season.
• The eight home runs also set a program record, with seven against St. John's in a 1987 game written in the record book as the previous mark.
• Ten players total had at least one hit and eight scored at least one run, while six Black Bears put together multi-hit performances at the plate.
• The Black Bears hit two sets of back-to-back-to-back home runs, with Christopher Bec, Danny Casals and Jonathan Bennett doing it in the second inning and then Hernen Sardinas, Bec and Casals going yard in the seventh.
• Sardinas finished with six RBIs for Maine's first such game since Scott Heath drove in seven runs against UMBC on May 16, 2014.
• The 26-hit total gave Maine the highest single-game hit total for an America East team this season – and since the 2016 season - and the Black Bears now own three of the top five.

Back-To-Back-To-Back, Back-To-Back-To-Back
• Twice in Maine's 24-5 win over UMass on May 2, the Black Bears hit back-to-back-to-back home runs.
• In the second inning, Christopher Bec hit a two-run home run only to be followed up by solo shots from Danny Casals and Jonathan Bennett.
• The seventh inning saw Hernen Sardinas hit Maine's first grand slam of the season and then Bec and Casals collected their third and second home runs of the game.

Bec Goes Beastmode
• At UMass on May 2, Christopher Bec finished 5-for-6 at the plate, knocking in six runs and scoring five on the strength of three home runs, one double and one single.
• It marked the first time that a Maine player hit three home runs in a game since Justin Leisenheimer did it at UMBC on April 7, 2012.
• Bec is the 18th player in NCAA Division I baseball this season to hit three home runs in one game.
• It marked the catcher's second multi-home run game of the 2018 season.
• The senior also stole his 10th base of the season and is the only catcher in the league in the top 10 in steals.

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.
 
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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