ORONO, Maine – After a trip to Birmingham, the University of Maine baseball team continues its spring break trip with a single game at Alabama on Tuesday, along with a meeting against Troy on Wednesday night. Tuesday's matchup will be broadcasted on SEC Network+, while a live stream on Wednesday night is available to watch on Troy's Facebook page.
Series Information
Maine Black Bears at Alabama Crimson Tide
Date: March 19
Site: Tuscaloosa, Ala. | Sewell-Thomas Stadium
Records: Maine 1-15, Alabama 17-4
Maine Black Bears at Troy Trojans
Date: March 20
SITE: Troy, Ala. | Riddle-Pace Stadium
Records: Maine 1-15, Troy 9-11
Probable Rotation
Game 1: Maine RHP Justin Courtney | Alabama RHP Tyler Ras
Game 2: Maine RHP Sam McCarthy | Troy Sadler Goodwin
Samford Series
• Maine earned its first win of the season in game two against Samford, as a four-run fifth inning led the Black Bears to a 6-4 win.
•
Peter Kemble earned the victory for the Black Bears, allowing just three hits and two earned runs, while striking four in five innings pitched. The Black Bear bullpen combined to allow just two hits and two runs over four innings to seal the victory.
• In game one, Maine tallied a season-high 10 hits, led by three from
Hernen Sardinas.
•
Cody Pasic had two multi-hit games in the series, extending his team-high hitting streak to six games.
•
Danny Casals has reached base in nine straight games, extending back to the first game of the Liberty series on March 2
nd. He blasted his first home run in the first inning of Maine's victory over Samford on Saturday.
•
Cody Laweryson impressed in game three for Maine, allowing just three hits and no earned runs, while striking out six in four innings.
About Alabama
• The Crimson Tide hold a 17-4 record after falling in two-of-three of their SEC opening series against nationally-ranked Ole Miss.
• As a team, Alabama has a .282 batting average, which is 69
th best nationally and third best in the SEC.
• The pitching unit is 26
th best in the nation in ERA, allowing 3.06 runs per nine innings.
• Projected starting pitcher Tyler Ras has struck out 12 in 12 2/3 innings, allowing six earned runs and 17 hits. He holds and 0-1 record in five appearances and four career starts.
• Kolby Robinson has a team-high .415 batting average, while Keith Holcombe leads the Crimson Tide with 24 RBIs.
About Troy
• The Trojans are 9-11 on the season, falling in five-straight after being swept by Arkansas State in a three-game series last week.
• Troy has hit 42 doubles on the season, which ranks 21
st in the country.
• The Trojans strike out 9.2 batters per nine innings, which is 70
th best in the country.
• Rigsby Mosley has posted a team-high .373 batting average in 16 games played. Sadler Goodwin drove in 14 RBIs and four home runs for the Trojans.
TOUGH SLATE
• According to the NCAA, the Black Bears have had the second toughest schedule in the nation, ranking only behind Xavier.
• Maine's opponents have combined for a 70-24 record as of March 18.
• No. 5 Florida State (14-4)
• Maryland (10-8)
• Liberty (14-5)
• No. 7 Mississippi State (18-2)
• Samford (14-5)
• Maine's RPI ranks at 154 of 299 despite a 1-15 record.
SPRING BREAK TRIP
• Maine will play seven game over the course of 10 days over its spring break trip, heading to Alabama (March 19) and Troy (March 20) for single games before heading up to Binghamton to open the America East slate next weekend with a doubleheader on Saturday, March 23 and a single game on Sunday, March 24. The Black Bears will then head back to Maine before going back to the Empire State for a weekend America East series against Stony Brook to close March.
PASIC'S PLAY
• After a wild pitch, Maine junior catcher
Cody Pasic picked up the baseball approaching the infield grass and made a leap towards home plate in hopes of tagging out a Bulldog in game one against Mississippi State.
• The runner was initially called safe, but after replay review, the call was overturned to an out. The game
• The play landed on ESPN SportCenter's Top 10 Plays, at number five.
The All-Time Series
• This weekend's series marks the third meetings between Maine and Alabama
• The two squads split a two-game series in 1989, with Maine winning 5-2 in the most recent meeting. Alabama won the first game 6-1.
• The Black Bears are 7-49 all-time against the current iteration of the SEC
Alabama (1-1)
Arkansas (0-1)
Auburn (1-4)
Georgia (0-1)
Florida (0-9)
Kentucky (1-3)
LSU (1-6)
Missouri (0-1)
Mississippi State (1-4)
Ole Miss (0-4)
South Carolina (1-6)
Tennessee (0-0)
Texas A&M (1-9)
Vanderbilt (0-0)
Total 7-49
• Wednesday's meeting will be the first-ever meeting between Troy and Maine.
Arkansas St. (2-0)
Appalachian St. (0-0)
Coastal Carolina (1-0)
Georgia Southern (0-1)
Georgia St. (0-0)
Little Rock (0-0)
Louisiana (0-0)
Louisiana Monroe (0-0)
South Alabama (0-0)
Texas-Arlington (0-0)
Texas St. (0-0)
Troy (0-0)
Total 3-1
He's BAAAACK
• After undergoing Tommy John surgery to repair a UCL tear in April a season ago, graduate student
Justin Courtney is slated to start his first game on Tuesday against Alabama since March 9, 2018.
• His surgery was performed by Dr. Lyle Cain 11 months ago in Birmingham, Alabama.
• The next day, he attended an Alabama-Auburn baseball game on April 20 at Sewell-Thomas Stadium, the same stadium he will make his season-debut.
• In 2018, Courtney recorded a 1-1 record with a 2.57 ERA, allowing just six earned runs and 14 hits in 21 innings pitched.
• He held No. 24 Miami to just one hit and one earned run while striking out eight Hurricanes in six innings pitched in a no-decision.
• In Courtney's win over Ohio, he pitched 7 2/3 innings, allowed four hits and an earned run while striking out nine.
• He led Maine with a 3.92 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 2017
• He was named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American in 2015, along with America East Second-Team and All-Rookie Team Selection.
DeLightful DeLaite
•
Trevor DeLaite has dazzled opposing batters this season, with lefties batting just .150 (3/20) against him and righties hitting at a .175 7/40) clip. He has allowed just three hits with runners on base (3/26).
• He has struck out 23 batters in 17.0 innings pitched, allowing just 10 hits and six earned runs.
• He ranks 69
th in the nation in hits allowed per nine innings (5.29), while also ranking in the top-100 nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (65
th, 12.18) and WHIP (100
th, .94).
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 is batting .204 on the season, as he's tied with a team-high three doubles.
• Check out 'Strikeout the Stigma' on goblackbears.com for more info.
Young Cubs
• Several freshmen Black Bears have impressed through 16 games this season.
• Freshman RHP
Nicholas Sinacola has allowed just 12 hits in 16 innings pitched this season, holding opponents to just a .218 batting average. He has struck out 14 batters and earned the America East Conference's first freshman of the week of the season.
•
Jake Roper hit a grand slam on his first collegiate hit against Florida State on Feb. 16 against FSU. He ranks second on the team with six RBIs
• Freshman Catcher
Ryan Turenne is batting .313 on the season, with a team-high .791 OPS.
The Bear Facts
• Maine boasts six seniors, six juniors, seven sophomores and 12 freshmen among its roster of 32 players.
• Maine was tabbed to finished in fourth-place in the America East Preseason Coaches' Poll.
• Six Black Bears return in 2019 that have started at least 30 games, including
Hernen Sardinas,
Cody Pasic,
Danny Casals,
Kevin Doody,
Caleb Kerbs and
Colin Ridley.
• The Black Bears return three America East all-conference selections in
Danny Casals (first team),
Hernen Sardinas (second team) and
Matt Geoffrion (all-rookie). Maine had two players drafted in the 2018 MLB draft, with
Jeremy Pena (3rd round. 102nd overall) and
Christopher Bec (5th round, 146th overall) going within the top 150 picks.
• Maine went 20-34 last season and finished in sixth place in the America East regular season standings with an 12-12 record before fighting its way to day three of the America East Championship after falling in its opening game.
• Head Coach
Nick Derba enters his third season at the helm of the Black Bears, holding a 45-63 overall record. Maine advanced to the America East Championship game in his first season and rallied to make it to day three of the conference tournament a season ago.
Hall of Famers
• On Dec. 2, 2018, Assistant Coach
John Schiffner and UMaine alumnus Mark Sweeney were both inducted into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame.
• Schiffner is the winningest manager in Cape Cod League History, coaching the Chatham, A's/Anglers to 541 regular season wins and 16 playoff appearances. He has coached 39 first round picks and over 125 of his former players have reached the big leagues, including Evan Longoria, Andrew Miller, Kris Bryant, and Todd Frazier. Head Coach
Nick Derba played for Schiffner from 2004 to 2006 for the Anglers.
• Mark Sweeney, a 14-year MLB vet, played for seven different teams, ranking second all-time in MLB history with 175 career pinch hits and first all-time with 102 pinch hit RBIs. He still holds 21 school records at UMaine, including, career hits (328), career doubles (66), career home runs (52), career RBIs (211), total bases (568), slugging percentage (.663). He earned All-America honors in. 1988, 1990. And 1991. He was inducted to the Maine Sports Hall of Fame in 1996. Sweeney led the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox to back-to-back Cape Cod league titles in 1989 and 1990, earning Cape Cod Playoff MVP honors in 1989.
Legends Weekend
• Maine will welcome back and honor the 1991 team on to campus on the weekend of April 20-21 when Maine takes on UMass in a four-game non-conference series.
• The 1991 Black Bears baseball team set a school record with 48 wins, winning the America East and ECAC championship. The 1991 Black Bears hosted the most recent NCAA Regional at Mahaney Diamond, falling in the title game to Clemson. Sweeney earned the America East Player of the Year after hitting .387 with a .644 slugging percentage. Larry Thomas was selected as the America East Pitcher of the Year, striking out a school record 108 batters in just 99.1 innings pitched. Both Sweeney and Thomas were elected as All-Americans following the season.
• Maine Softball will honor the ECAC champion 1984 and 1987 teams that same weekend.
The 136th Season
• UMaine is embarking on its 136th season of play with the 2019 season, with the Black Bears first having played during the 1881 season.
• After 135 seasons, UMaine held an overall record of 1978-1579-17 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.
•
Nick Derba is the 25th head coach in program history.
