ORONO, Maine – After taking two of three games from America East leader Stony Brook, the University of Maine baseball team looks to keep its momentum going, traveling to Connecticut to play Hartford for a three game game series at Fiondella Field. Both Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game will feature a noon first pitch.
How to Follow: There is no live stream available, but fans can listen to Jim Churchill broadcast all three game locally on 96.1 FM WGUY and nationally on goblackbears.com.
Series Information
Maine Black Bears vs. Hartford Hawks
Date: May 11 – May 12
Site: Mahaney Diamond
Records: Maine 13-27 (9-8 AE), Hartford (17-28, 9-9)
Probable Rotation
Game 1: Maine RHP
Nick Silva | TBD
Game 2: Maine RHP
Cody Laweryson | TBD
Game 3: TBD
Maine – Stony Brook Recap
• The Black Bears were able to win both nine inning games against the first-place Seawolves, winning the opener 4-3 and the finale 9-8.
• With game one tied 3-3 in the bottom of the eighth,
Danny Casals lifted a solo home run to left center to give the Black Bears a 4-3 advantage.
Trevor DeLaite would pick up his second save of the week, pitching the eighth and ninth innings.
Nick Silva tossed seven innings, allowing three earned runs while striking out eight.
• Stony Brook took a 5-1 lead in game two, but Maine battled back with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Maine put the tying run on base in the bottom of the seventh, but Stony Brook held on to win 5-3.
• In the series finale, Stony Brook would two runs in each of the first three innings to take a 6-0 lead.
Hernen Sardinas would blast a solo home run to put Maine on the scoreboard as the Black Bears would score four consecutive to cut the deficit to 6-4. Stony Brook added a run to its lead in the fifth, but three run bottom of the fifth for the Black Bears made it a 7-7 game. Maine took its first lead on another solo home run from Sardinas in the sixth, but a sac-fly by Stony Brook in the seventh tied things up at 8-8. A fielder's choice RBI off the bat of Sardinas in the bottom of the seventh proved to be the winning run, as Maine won 9-8.
AE Weekly Awards
• DeLaite was selected America East Pitcher of the Week after earning three saves and a win. He held opponents scoreless in six innings pitched, allowing just four hits.
•
Ryan Turenne was selected as the co-rookie of the week, driving in four runs, while batting .417 in 12 at bats.
About Hartford
• After being swept by Binghamton on the weekend of April 27-28, Hartford has won four of six, including three straight. Last week, the Hawks took two of three from UMass Lowell, and earned a 7-3 win over Central Connecticut State at Dunkin' Donuts Park, last Tuesday.
• The Hawks are tied with Albany for fourth place, as both the Hawks and Great Danes sit a half game behind Maine for third place.
• Hartford has a team batting average of .249 (5th in AE) and a team ERA of 6.71 (Sixth in AE).
• Chris Sullivan (4
th, 37) and Ashton Bardzell (6
th, 35) both rank in the top-10 in RBIs in the conference. Bardzell is tied for second in the AE with eight home runs, while Zachary Ardito is fifth in the AE in runs scored (35).
• Pitchers Nicholas Dombkowski (4
th, 60) and Billy DeVito (8
th, 47) both rank in the top-10 in conference in strikeouts.
The All-Time Series
• Harford won four of the six meetings last season, but the Black Bears lead 93-42 overall in the series.
• The two squads first met in 1990 and have met every season since.
America East Impactions
• With Maine and Hartford meeting and Binghamton and Albany also playing in a three game series this weekend, playoff seeding is on the line. Next. Weekend, Maine will play Binghamton next weekend in its final regular season series, while Hartford will meet Albany.
• Maine clinched a spot in the America East Tournament last week with the 9-8 win over Stony Brook. The tournament will take place at the Bearcat Baseball Complex in Vestal, N.Y. on the campus of Binghamton University.
Notable Streaks
•
Cody Pasic saw his team-long 21 game on-base streak come to an end in game two of the doubleheader against Stony Brook. He started a new streak in the finale.
• Casals currently has the longest on-base streak on the team and hit-streak, both seven games.
• Sardinas is now on a five-game hit streak.
Joey Bats
• Since conference play began on March 24,
Joe Bramanti has found rhythm at the plate, leading Maine with a .352 batting average in that span.
• He has 18 RBIs in 22 games with 12 walks in 71 at bats for a .472 on-base percentage.
Baby Shark
• With Maine's improvement from the plate since the end of March,
Hernen Sardinas has led the way in several categories.
• Since March 24, Sardinas leads Maine in hits (29), home runs (9), RBIs (23), total bases (67 while striking out just 10 times in 88 at bats.
• He now leads the America East in home runs with nine.
Danny Dinger
• After a slow start to the year,
Danny Casals has boosted his season batting average to .284.
• Over his last seven games, Casals is batting .414, going 12-for-29 from the plate with two doubles and two home run while driving in eight RBIs.
• Since March 24, the senior is batting .342, with six home runs and 16 RBIs, while walking 13 times for a .447 on-base percentage.
DeLightful DeLaite
•
Trevor DeLaite has dazzled opposing batters this season, with lefties batting just .138 (4/29) against him and righties hitting at a .200 (14/70) clip. He has allowed just seven hits with runners on base in 46 opportunities.
• He has struck out 39 batters in 28 innings pitched, allowing just 14 hits and seven earned runs.
• Since March 16, he has tallied 18 strikeouts and walked just two, giving up one earned run in 10 appearances.
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.
• On April 24, Peña smacked a solo home run home run and ended the game by starting a 6-4-3 triple play, earning player of the game honors by the River Bandits.
• On the season, Peña is batting .225 with 15 RBIs and two home runs in 30 games
• Bec is batting .233 with a .361 on-base percentage in nine games this season for Dunedin.
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 honored the 1991 team on to campus on the weekend of April 20 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-
