ORONO, Maine – After a near win in game three of a four game series against nationally-ranked Florida State, the Maine Black Bears look to pick up their first victory of the season this weekend in a three-game series against Maryland. Due to inclement weather, the schedule has changed to a double-header on Friday starting at 1:00 p.m., with the second game projected to start at 4:00 p.m. Sunday's series finale is still slated to start at 1:00 p.m.
No live stream will be available, but all three games can be heard on the radio waves on 96.1 WGUY FM and goblackbears.com with Jim Churchill on the call. Sunday's game will be broadcasted exclusively online and will switch to WGUY once the Maine-Stony Brook women's basketball game is completed.
Series Information
Maine Black Bears at Maryland Terrapins
DATES: Friday, Feb. 22 (DH), Sunday Feb. 24
SITE: College Park, Md. | Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium
Records: Maine 0-4, Maryland 1-2
Probable Rotation
Game 1: Maine RHP Nicholas Sinacola | Maryland RHP Hunter Parsons
Game 2: Maine RHP Peter Kemble | Maryland RHP Zach Thompson
Game 3: Maine TBD | Maryland TBD
Maine's Opening Series
• The Black Bears were swept by No. 6 FSU in the opening series last week, as a walk-off in game three and a big seventh inning in game four prevented an upset by the Black Bears.
• Maine led 5-2 in the fourth inning of game three after a Jake Roper grand slam on his first collegiate-hit, as FSU added a run in the fourth, and sixth before walking-off in the seventh inning of the shortened contest to win 6-5.
• In the series finale, Nick Silva exited the contest after the first inning due to injury, as freshman Nicholas Sinacola made his collegiate debut by not allowing FSU a hit in five innings pitched. The Seminoles would score seven runs in the seventh inning after Sinacola left the mound to win 9-1.
About Maryland
• The Terrapins enter the series with a 1-2 record falling to Campbell (6-10) and powerhouse Coastal Carolina (2-7) in their first two games of the season before defeating VCU 5-3 in their final game of the Brittain Resorts Invitational, hosted by Coastal Carolina.
• AJ Lee (SS), John Murphy (RHP) and Hunter Parsons (RHP) were all honored on the 2019 Big Ten Preseason Honors List
• Four Terrapins are batting over .300 over the first three games, led by Randy Bednar's .400 average. He also leads Maine with four RBIs.
The All-Time Series
• The Black Bears and Terrapins have met twice before, with the squads splitting the series at 1-1.
• Maine won the first game in 1958 by a score of 7-6, while Maryland earned a 9-0 victory over Maine in 1965.
• The Black Bears hold a 35-27 winning record over current Big 10 schools, earning its last win against a B1G school in 2014 in a 8-4 victory over Northwestern. Maine holds an impressive 9-2 series lead over Michigan State.
Black Bear Debuts
• Several Black Bears made impressive debuts in their first games as Black Bears against the nationally-ranked Seminoles.
• Freshman RHP Nicholas Sinacola earned the first America East Rookie of the Week after not allowing a hit over the course of five innings in Sunday's series finale. Coming in from the bullpen in the second inning, the native of North Attleboro Mass, struck out a Seminole every inning, facing just one batter over the minimum, walking just two before exiting the contest after the sixth inning.
• Freshman outfielder Jake Roper smacked a go-ahead grand slam on his first collegiate hit in game three to give Maine its first lead of the season by a mark of 5-2. He added a single in game four of the series.
• Freshman Catcher Ryan Turenne recorded back-to-back singles in his first two collegiate at bats in game three against the Seminoles, as he enters the Maryland series with a perfect 1.000 batting average.
Divine DeLaite
• Junior lefty Trevor DeLaite made two appearances against Florida State, including a dominant 2 2/3 innings stretch against the Seminoles in game three, when the Bangor native struck out five of six batters he faced.
• Of the 11 Seminoles he faced, he struck out six of the them, allowing just a single in the outing.
• Lefties are batting .200 against DeLaite (1 for 5), while right-handed batters are 0 for 7 against the Maine product.
• He also made an impressive defensive play, sprinting towards a dribbler to first base as a diving barehanded throw beat the batter to the base.
• He also appeared in the first game of the series, pitching an inning of no-hit ball, while striking out one batter.
Back in Business
• On May 16, 2018, now redshirt-senior Caleb Kerbs was diagnosed with non-seminoma testicular cancer.
• Kerbs missed the rest of the season, undergoing surgery on May 25.
• He drove in Maine's first runs on a two-run double in the second game against FSU.
• He added a second double in the bottom of the ninth and registered a single in the finale.
• For more information on his journey, click here.
UP NEXT
• After facing the Terrapins, Maine will open March on the road at Liberty, the 2018 ASUN runner ups, for a three-game series. The first pitch on Friday, March 1 is slated for 4:00 p.m. EST.
-UMaine-
