ORONO, Maine – The University of Maine baseball team will head out of America East play for a non-conference series with UMass, hosting the Minutemen at Mahaney Diamond. Maine will play a doubleheader featuring two seven-inning games on Friday beginning at 3:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday will feature a single nine-inning game that begins at noon. All games will be broadcasted on AmericaEast.TV and can be heard on 96.1 FM WGUY.
Series Information
Maine Black Bears vs. UMass Minutemen
Date: April 19-21
Site: Orono, Maine | Mahaney Diamond
Records: Maine 7-22 (6-5 AE), UMass 11-18 (5-7 A10)
Probable Rotation
Game 1: Maine RHP
Nick Silva | TBD
Game 2: Maine RHP
Peter Kemble | TBD
Game 3: Maine RHP
Cody Laweryson | TBD
Game 4: TBD | TBD
Maine – UML Series Recap
• Maine moved up the third place in the America East standings with a three-game sweep of UML last week. The Black Bears outscored UMass Lowell 28-8 in the series.
• The Black Bears earned three America East Weekly honors for just the fourth time in program history, as
Cody Pasic earned Player of the Week,
Cody Laweryson earned Co-Pitcher of the Week, while
Jake Roper earned Rookie of the Week.
• Pasic slashed .545/.583/.636 with 6 RBIs, improving his season average from .256 to .315.
• Laweryson continued his dominance on the mound in conference play by striking out eight River Hawks in seven innings to complete the series sweep on Sunday. He scattered four hits and walked just one, holding opponents to a .182 average in the series finale.
• Roper earned his first career conference weekly honor after batting .286 on the weekend, with his series highlight coming on a monster solo homer in game two of the doubleheader on Saturday. He went 2-for-2 on stolen bases in Sunday's finale.
About UMass
• The Minutemen are coming off a 10-9 walk-off victory over Harvard at Fenway Park to win the Baseball Beanpot.
• Colin Shapiro (.324), Anthony Videtto (.317), Connor Smith (.303) and Nolan Kessinger are all hitting above .300 for the Minutemen.
• With a 5-7 conference record, UMass sits 10
th of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 standings.
• UMass is 133
rd in the latest RPI rankings.
• The Minutemen have a .261 team batting average and a 5.78 team ERA.
Tough Slate
• According to the NCAA, the Black Bears have had the 32nd toughest schedule in the nation to date. Before America East play began, Maine's schedule ranked as high as the second most difficult among 299 teams.
• Maine's opponents this season have combined for a 532-394 (.575) record as of April 12.
• No. 5 Florida State (22-13)
• Maryland (18-19)
• Liberty (27-9)
• No. 7 Mississippi State (32-6)
• Samford (26-11)
• Alabama (24-14)
• Troy (19-18)
• Maine's RPI ranks at 191 of 299 teams despite a 7-22 record.
The All-Time Series
• Maine and UMass first met in 1892, and will meet for the for the 102
nd, 103
rd, 104
th and 105
th times this weekend with the Black Bears holding a slim 52-49 lead over UMass.
• In the most recent meeting last season, Maine pounded UMass 24-5, matching a school record in hits in a game (26), while setting a program record with eight home runs in the contest at
Earl Lorden Field.
Conference Play Improvement
•In conference play, Maine has the lowesdt team ERA (3.10) among the seven members in the conference.
• They also lead in conference play in home runs (8), walks (46), least walks issued (25), lowest hits allowed per game, lowest opposing batting average.
Streakin'
• Pasic has reached base in each of his last 12 games.
DeLightful DeLaite
•
Trevor DeLaite has dazzled opposing batters this season, with lefties batting just .136 (3/22) against him and righties hitting at a .200 (10/50) clip. He has allowed just five hits with runners on base in 36 opportunities.
• He has struck out 28 batters in 20 innings pitched, allowing just 13 hits and seven earned runs.
• Among America East pitchers, DeLaite is third in opposing batting average (.181), 10th in ERA (3.15).
Laudable Laweryson
• In his last three starts against Stony Brook (3/31) and UMBC (4/7) and UMass Lowell (4/14),
Cody Laweryson has combined for a 1.66 ERA, striking out 27 in 21.2 innings, while walking just five and allowing just one extra-base hit. Opponents are batting just .195 against Laweryson in that span.
• He brought a perfect game in to the seventh inning against the Seawolves, while earning his first win of the season in a 10-strikout performance against UMBC.
• He's striking out 4.8 batters for every batter he walks (43 strikeouts, 9 walks).
• Righties are batting just .207 off Laweryson in 2019.
Pro Bears
• 2018 MLB Draft Picks Jeremy Peña (3
rd round, Houston Astros) and
Christopher Bec (5
th round, Toronto Blue Jays) have begun their second seasons in professional baseball.
• Peña is playing for the Quad City River Bandits in the Class A Midwest League, while Bec is playing for the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Class A Advanced Florida State League.
• Over his last 10 games, Peña is hitting .282 with five RBIs and seven runs scored.
• Bec has appeared in four games this season, earning a base knock and two walks in 14 at bats.
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.
• Check out 'Strikeout the Stigma' on goblackbears.com for more info.
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 fourth 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.
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.
-UMaine-
