Game 2 (-3 p.m., Saturday, May 5): Maine (RHP John Arel, 4-2) | Binghamton (LHP Nick Wegmann, 3-6)

Game 3 (11 a.m., Sunday, May 6) Maine (RHP Cody Laweryson, 0-3) | Binghamton (RHP Jacob Wloczewski, 2-5)

Maine game notes

What's on Tap
• Valuable points for a playoff push are on the line this weekend when Binghamton visits Mahaney Diamond for a three-game series with the Black Bears.
 
Last Time Out
• Maine traveled to UMass on Wednesday 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 opening frames; the freshman finished the afternoon at 3.0 innings pitched, 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.
 
The Black Bears, In Brief
• 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.
• 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 with 21 hits.
• 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 Binghamton
• The Bearcats defeated Cornell on Wednesday, 11-1, to improve to 13-25-1 on the season; BU has won three-straight contests – including two over Stony Brook last weekend, entering the series at Maine.
• BU is batting .243, led by Andrew Eng's .318, while Anthony Meduri has a team-high 42 hits and Jason Agresti bats .272 with a team-best 12 doubles and 23 walks earned.
• Paul Rufo is tops on the team with 22 RBIs and joins Pat Britt and C.J. Krowiak with a team-high three home runs; Krowiak's seven stolen bases lead the team.
• The Bearcats were tabbed to finish first in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
Series History vs. Binghamton
• Maine and Binghamton have squared off 66 times prior to the weekend series, with the Black Bears holding an edge of 34-32 in the all-time series.
• BU and Maine first met for a two-game series in 2002, with Maine sweeping on the road, 10-0 and 3-0.
• The Bearcats swept the regular season series last year (9-3, 7-4, 3-2) in Binghamton but the Black Bears topped the Bearcats (8-3) in the America East Tournament to snap an eight-game losing streak in the series.
 
Stat Check
• Hernen Sardinas leads Maine with his .310 average and 48 hits while Christopher Bec is second with a .306 average and seven home runs.
• Danny Casals is tops in slugging-percentage (.576), on-base percentage (.414) and RBIs (32).
• Jeremy Pena is second in hits (47) and on-base percentage (.384).
• The Black Bears havefour players with a slugging percentage above .350.
• Maine not only has the top single-game hitting performance (26) by an America East team this season and three of the top five single-game hit totals overall.
 
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.
 
Hitting Streaks
• Danny Casals, Jeremy Pena, and Caleb Kerbs each carry a three-game hitting streak into Saturday while Brandon Vicens has hit safely in the last two contests.
• Pena, Vicens, and Jonathan Bennett have all had team-long, eight-game streaks this season.
 
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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