ORONO, Maine - While the University of Maine baseball team has locked up an America East Championship playoff spot, the Black Bears will look to move up in the standings this weekend when they host Hartford for three games. Both Friday's doubleheader and Saturday's single game are scheduled to begin at noon.
 

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Game Information
Maine Black Bears vs. Hartford Hawks
DATE: Friday, May 18, 2018-Saturday, May 19, 2018
SITE: Orono, Maine | Mahaney Diamond
2018 Records: Maine 14-29 (8-10 AE), Hartford 21-28 (14-7 AE)

Maine game notes

Last Time Out
• In a seesaw, weather shortened affair at Boston College on May 15, the Eagles edged Maine, 9-7; the non-conference contest was called with two outs in the bottom of the eighth due to lightning.
• Danny Casals finished with three hits, including two home runs, while knocking in three runs and scoring three runs. Jeremy Pena and Christopher Bec each had two hits for the Black Bears while Ben Terwilliger collected two RBIs on his first collegiate home run.
• Last weekend, Maine traveled to UAlbany and swept the Great Danes to clinch a spot in the America East tournament.
• On May 11, Maine used early offensive production en route to 6-5 and 12-5 wins in a doubleheader; Hernen Sardinas finished the day 5-for-9 at the plate, smacking two doubles, a triple and two RBIs while scoring four runs. Jeremy Pena had four hits on the day, including a triple, and scored three runs and knocked in two.
• The next day, Maine trailed, 7-1, entering the top of the seventh inning but came back to top UAlbany, 8-7, thanks to three runs in the seventh and two each in the eighth and ninth; Peter Kemble earned his first career win with two innings of work.
• It marked the first time since the 2016 season that the Black Bears won a game when trailing after eight innings.

The Black Bears, In Brief
• Maine is an experienced squad, boasting eight seniors and seven juniors for 15 upperclassmen among its roster of 28 players.
• Maine was tabbed to finished in second place in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Maine returned three players in Christopher Bec, Jeremy Pena and Brandon Vicens that started all 54 games last season as well as Hernen Sardinas (53 games), Jonathan Bennett (52) and Caleb Kerbs (52).
• 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.

About Hartford
• The Hawks carry a 21-28 overall record and 14-7 first place conference record into the weekend, along with a chance to win the program's first-ever regular-season crown with a single win.
• Hartford played on Wednesday, topping Central Connecticut, 3-0, in a rain-shortened contest.
• As a team, Hartford is hitting .267 while Nick Campana is tops with a .411 average – a mark that also sits third overall in the nation – 72 hits, 10 home runs, 36 RBIs and a .674 slugging percentage.
• Justin Blood is in his seventh season as head coach of the Hawks, who were tabbed seventh in the America East Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll.

Series History vs. Hartford
• Maine enters Friday's first game – the 133rd meeting between the Hawks and Black Bears – with an overall record of 92-40 in the series.
• Back in March, Maine traveled to Hartford and dropped two out of three games (in the conference opener.
• Last season, Maine went 3-1, earning a pair of wins at home (1-0, 3-2) and one loss (10-6) before going on to top the team in the conference tournament (2-1).
• Maine and Hartford first met in 1986, with Maine earning a 4-1 win on the road.

Stat Check
• Jeremy Pena and Danny Casals both carry team-high .308 averages into the weekend, with Pena also leading the squad in runs scored (43), hits (57), and triples.
• Casals is tops in slugging percentage (.609), on-base percentage (.419), home runs (13), and RBIs (39), with his home runs tying him for first in the league.
• 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 leads the league in sacrifice bunts (10) and is fourth in stolen bases (14).

It's Worth Noting…
• With a triple against UAlbany on May 11, Jeremy Pena became the first Maine player to hit at least five triples in a season since the 2011 season.
• Pena carries a 10-game hitting streak into Tuesday's game, a team best on the year, while Doody has an eight game streak.
• Eddie Emerson has struck out at least one batter in all 14 appearances in 2018 while Trevor DeLaite has registered at least one strikeout in all 11 of his appearances.
• In his last six appearances, Cody Laweryson has tallied at least three strikeouts

Danny Goes Yard
• With two home runs at BC on May 15, Danny Casals now has 13 home runs on the year.
• In addition to being the first time since 2010 that a Black Bear has double-digit home runs, it's the first time a Maine player has at least 13 home runs in a season since Jon Hambelton did the same in the 2001 season.
• The junior now has three multiple home run games on the season, the first three of his career.

Hittin' Hernen
• Hernen Sardinas went 7-for-14 (.500) with three doubles, one triple, three runs batted in and five runs scored in Maine's three-game series against UAlbany.
• He was named the America East Player of the Week on May 14 for his performance against the Great Danes.

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.
 
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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