ORONO, Maine – With a chance to improve America East Championships seeding up for grabs, the University of Maine baseball team will host Binghamton for the final series of the regular season on Friday and Saturday.
The University of Maine athletic department will honor the six members of the Class of 2019 prior to Friday's doubleheader. On Saturday, 1964 College World Series Most Outstanding Player, Joe Ferris will have him name and number unveiled on the Wall of Legends.
How to Follow: All home games are free admission at Mahaney Diamond. Fans that cannot attend can watch a live stream of all three games on AmericaEast.tv. Jim Churchill can be heard on the local radio waves on 96.1 FM WGUY and nationally on goblackbears.com.
Series Information
Maine Black Bears vs. Binghamton Bearcats
Dates: May 17-18
Time: Friday (DH) 11:00 a.m., Saturday: 11:00 a.m.
Site: Mahaney Diamond
Records: Maine 14-29 (10-10 AE), Binghamton (21-21, 10-8 AE)
Probable Rotation
Maine RHP
Cody Laweryson // Binghamton RHP Nick Gallagher
Maine RHP
Nick Silva // Binghamton RHP Ben Anderson
Maine RHP
Justin Courtney // Binghamton LHP Thomas Babalis
The Class of 2019
• Maine will honor its senior class prior to Friday's doubleheader.
• Honorees include
Bobby Brennan,
Danny Casals,
Justin Courtney,
Caleb Kerbs,
Colin Ridley and
Nick Silva.
• The Class of 2019 has combined to record 471 hits, 261 runs, 260 runs, 97 doubles and 39 home runs.
• The combination of Courtney and Silva on the mound has resulted in a total of 383 strikeouts and 24 wins.
• The Black Bears have won 98 games over the past five seasons under their watch.
Honoring a Legend
• Prior to Saturday's single game, the University of Maine baseball team will honor 1964 College World Series Most Outstanding Player Joe Ferris to the Wall of Legends.
• Ferris becomes the sixth member on the Wall of Legends, joining fellow Black Bear standouts Mike Bordick (3), Bill Swift (8) and Mark Sweeney (12). Ferris's coach, Jack Butterfield (21) and the Black Bear's all-time winningest manager, John Winkin (5) also hold a spot on the Wall of Legends.
• He is the only College World Series MVP in team history, Ferris and still holds records for win percentage in a season (9-0, 1.000 in 1964) and career (16-3, .842).
• In 1964, he went 9-0, earning wins against Seton Hall and defending champion USC, while earning a save against No. 2 Arizona State.
"Joe has been part of the Black Bear family through it all," said head coach
Nick Derba. "He was one of the greats in the program's first College World Series appearances and has been a major supporter of the program since then. Every player that has come through these doors since 1964 has seen Joe around. Not only is he a huge fan of baseball but he attends and supports all Maine athletic events. Joe is a legend and deserves a place on the Wall."
• For more information on Joe Ferris unveiling,
click here.
America East Championship Implications
• In the final weekend of the regular season, Maine, Stony Brook, Binghamton, Albany Hartford and UMass Lowell have all clinched a spot in the America East Championships, with UMBC being the lone team out.
• Playoff seeding is wide open, as Stony Brook can secure the one seed with a single win against UMass Lowell this weekend. Maine looks to sweep Binghamton and have Hartford win two-of-three from Albany, as the Black Bears could then earn the second seed and a bye in the first round.
Maine – Boston College Recap
• In a slugfest in Brighton, Mass. ACC foe Boston College came back to defeat the Black Bears, 19-16 last Tuesday at the Harrington Athletics Village.
• Maine scored 10 runs in the top of the third, the most runs since Maine tallied 13 against UMBC on May 17, 2013.
•
Hernen Sardinas went 4-for-6 from the plate, just a triple away from a cycle.
• Between the longtime New England foes, the offensive slugfest featured 35 runs, 36 hits, 19 walks, 15 pitchers, nine doubles, but just two home runs.
• Eight Black Bears recorded at least one hit, with six having a multiple hit day.
• BC scored at least one run every inning, coming back from a 15-8 deficit to win 19-16.
Maine – Hartford Recap
• In the Black Bears' final regular season AE road trip of the season last weekend, Harford pulled out wins in the final two games to win the series.
• After Maine won a wild series opener against Hartford by a score of 11-10, Hartford would come back to take the second game 5-4 and the series finale 3-1.
• Maine put together leads of 5-0 and 10-6, but Hartford kept battling back into the game one. A
Jeffrey Omohundro RBI single proved to be difference, as Maine won 11-10.
• All three games went down to the wire, as Maine took a 4-2 lead in extra innings in game two, but the Hawks rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth of a seven-inning contest to win 5-4.
• After a
Joe Bramanti single in the top of the first, the Black Bears would lead the next six and a half innings, until Hartford scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh to earn a 3-1 win.
AE Weekly Awards
• For the second consecutive week,
Ryan Turenne was selected as the America East Rookie of the Week.
• In 10 at bats on the week against Hartford, Turenne collected four hits, posting a .400 batting average. He also reached base twice on two walks and a hit-by-pitch for a .538 on-base percentage. The Lynn, Mass. native smacked two hits in each game of the doubleheader, which included a double and an RBI single. He also caught three Hawks stealing in the series.
• Over the last two weeks, Turenne leads the Black Bears with a .409 batting average, a .591 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage. In those eight games, he has drove in five runs.
About Binghamton
• Entering the weekend, the Bearcats sit in second place with a 10-8 record.
• As a team the Bearcats are second in batting average in the conference (.269) and first in ERA (4.29).
• Game two's starter, Ben Anderson ranks 32
nd in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (11.92).
• Alex Barrata leads the America East with a .379 batting average, which ranks 44
th in the country.
The All-Time Series
• The Black Bear leads the all-time series by a mark of 37-34.
• Maine and Binghamton opened the America East slate against each other, with the two teams splitting a doubleheader. Maine won game one 8-0, but fell 4-1 in the seven-inning game.
Notable Streaks
•
Danny Casals currently has the longest on-base streak and hit-streak on the team, both 11 games.
•
Hernen Sardinas extended his on-base streak to nine straight games.
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-
