Week 2 Baseball Awards Handed To SBU's Tansey, Maine's Balentina & Leisenheimer

Week 2 Baseball Awards Handed To SBU's Tansey, Maine's Balentina & Leisenheimer

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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- Stony Brook's senior outfield Michael Tansey (Valley Stream, N.Y./Holy Trinity) took home the America East Player of the Week for the period ending March 8 as he powered his way through four games last week. University of Maine sophomore pitcher Jonathan Balentina (Willamstad, Curacao/Peter Stuyvesant) and freshman designated hitter Ian Leisenheimer received the league's Pitcher and Rookie of the Week as the Black Bears went 3-1 last week, including a win over 25th-ranked Ohio State.

Tansey, a 6-2, 215 lb outfielder, batted .357 last week in four games and 17 at-bats. Five of his six hits came in the Seawolves' win over Creighton on Friday and IPFW on Saturday at the Caravalle Resort Tournament. Tansey went 2-for-4 with an RBI against Creighton in the tournament's opening. His solo home run in the fourth inning gave Stony Brook the lead for good. The next day, Tansey went 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored. A fourth-inning three-run blast broke a 1-1 tie against IPFW and ultimately won the game for the defending America East Champion Seawolves.

Balentina, a 6-3 lefty, pitched the best game of his career in a complete game, 3-0 shutout of Fairfield on Wednesday. The sophomore did not allow a walk or an extra base hit in his nine-inning outing, while striking out seven Stags at the plate. The victory, in which he scattered six hits, gave him a 1-0 record on the year and proved to be his first career win, his first career shutout, and his first career complete game.

The 6-0, 230 lb Leisenheimer hit .500 on the week for Maine with a .571 slugging percentage. He finished the week tied for second on the team with four runs scored, while driving in four runs. The rookie was 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI in Maine's 10-3 win over Duquesne. Leisenheimer followed that up by going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in Maine's 3-0 win over Fairfield. He also converted his only attempt into a stolen base.

Team Notebooks: 

UAlbany (1-7, 0-0 AE) traveled to Conway, S.C. to compete at the Caravelle Resort Tournament over the weekend... The Great Danes defeated Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, 9-6, in the opener before dropping games to Coastal Carolina, 12-0, Creighton, 20-5, and IPFW, 15-6... Senior catcher Ryan Gugel (Batavia, N.Y./Batavia/Genesee C.C.) hit .400 for the weekend... Gugel recorded four hits, including two doubles, scored two runs and drove in one more... Freshman Mike Tirri (Lake George, N.Y./Lake George) led the team with five hits, including a home run in the win over IPFW... Senior left fielder Gary Pitcheralle (Mechanicville, N.Y./Mechanicville/Alfred State) finished the weekend with a team-high three RBI on two home runs, both coming in the finale against IPFW... Senior Sean Gregory (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) earned the win on the mound against IPFW... Gregory went 4.1 innings, striking out four and scattering just three hits... Senior left hander Dave Noble (Bronx, N.Y./Regis/St. Francis (NY) struck out six in 4.2 innings of work against the Mastadons in the finale... Senior Jeff Kaier (Queensbury, N.Y./Queensbury) fanned three in 2.2 innings of work, without allowing an earned run against Coastal Carolina... The Great Danes will return to action over the weekend, facing St. John’s on Friday and Sunday, with a doubleheader at N.Y. Tech on Saturday.

Binghamton (1-6, 0-0 AE) dropped a four-game set at University of New Mexico.  The Bearcats were outscored 66-9 by the 13-2 Lobos, who are on the cusp of the national rankings... Senior third baseman Kyle Klee (Rochester, N.Y./McQuaid Jesuit HS) hit .467 in the series (7-for-15)... Freshman first baseman Peter Bregartner (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip HS) hit .313 (5-for-16)... Sophomore reliever Morgan Smith (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa HS) was solid in his one outing, allowing just one run on two hits in 3.0 innings.  Smith has a 2.70 ERA in two appearances this spring... Sophomore center fielder Henry Dunn (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side HS) played two of the four games before sustaining an injury and raised his team-high season average to .462... Junior left fielder Joe Charron (Schaghticoke, N.Y./La Salle Institute) picked up two more RBI and now has a team-best four in seven games... Binghamton looks to get back on track with a three-game set at Maryland-Eastern Shore this weekend.

The Hawks (0-4, 0-0 AE) opened the 2009 season with a four-game series on the road against the New Mexico State Aggies, dropping all four games ... Hartford’s success in its opening series can be measured by three of the losses by three runs or less with two of those by only one run ... The Hawks also had a lead in three of the four games, forcing the Aggies to battle from behind ... Finally, the 11 runs scored in the final game of the series was the most scored against New Mexico State this season ... For the week, the Hawks were led by junior catcher Mike Amendola (North Babylon, NY/Suffolk CC) who finished with eight hits in 12 at bats for a .667 batting average, starting all four games ... He finished two games, perfect at the plate, 2-of-2 with two walks in the season opener and 3-of-3 with a walk in the series finale. Also hitting well was Andy Drexel (Pequea, PA/Penn Manor) who finished with a .375 batting average on 6-of-16 with two home runs and five RBI ... On the mound, junior reliever Bob Rogers (Fairfield, CT/Avon Old Farms) led the Hawks, pitching 5.1 innings of relief, allowing just one earned run on five hits, while striking out seven batters ... The Hawks return to the road for a three-game series at Central Florida, beginning a week long stay in the Sunshine State.

The University of Maine baseball team (5-5, 0-0 AE) was 3-1 on the week, including a victory over #25 Ohio State 10-7 on Saturday afternoon... Maine twins Ian and Justin Leisenheimer (Middle Village, NY./Holy Cross) each hit .500 on the week going a combined 13-for-26 with four runs scored and eight RBI... Maine sophomore pitcher Jonathan Balentina (Willamstad, Curacao/Peter Stuuyvesant) pitched the best game of his career with a complete game shutout against Fairfield... Allowed six hits and stuck out seven without allowing a walk...It was his first career win, first career shutout and first career complete game... It was Maine’s first shutout since blanking Albany 6-0 on April 11, 2008... Danny Menendez (Miami, Fla./Christopher Columbus) and Myckie Lugbauer (Mahopac, N.Y./Mahopac) each extended their hitting streaks to nine games on the week... Menendez leads Maine in stolen bases with seven in 10 games on the season... Former Maine standout and 2008 America East Player of the Year Curt Smith is playing for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic... The Netherlands Team defeated the Dominican Republic 3-2 on Saturday in their first game of the Classic... Maine travels to Winter Park, Florida this week to play in the Rollins College Baseball Tournament.  

The UMBC (1-2, 0-0 AE) baseball team won its first game of the 2009 season, exploding for a 15-2 win over Yale on Sunday after dropping two games to Wagner on Saturday... In the win, the Retrievers scored 11 runs in the first inning, including a three run-home run by senior Shawn Retz (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech/Catonsville C.C.)... Every Retriever starter on Sunday reached base, including freshman catcher Max Himmelstein (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown), who finished the week 5-for-9 with three RBI... In his first since 2007 after undergoing Tommy John surgery, sophomore pitcher Marty Zawacki (Hebron, Md./James Bennett) struck out six while only allowing one run on three hits in five innings of work to pick up the victory... Freshman pitcher Steve Miller (Newark, Del./Dickinson) only allowed one run in four innings of relief to pick up the save... Seniors Tom Meaney (Holbrook, N.Y./Sachem) and Brad Brainer (Chester, Md./Kent Island/Chesapeake JC) got off to hot starts with five hits each through three games... The Retrievers return to action Monday against Yale before travelling to Towson on Wednesday afternoon.

The Seawolves (2-6, 0-0 AE) split their four games at Coastal Carolina’s Caravelle Resort Classic over the weekend ... SBU opened the Classic with an 8-2 victory over the Creighton Blue Jays on Friday afternoon ... Freshman right hander Tyler Johnson picked up his first collegiate victory in the win over the Blue Jays,  allowing  just two runs on five hits in his 8.0 innings of work ... Johnson retired 18 of the final 19 batters he faced and struck out six while walking just one ... Seniors Michael Tansey and Briant Witkowski and sophomore Nick Thode each hit a home run against the Blue Jays ... the Seawolves fell to #14 Coastal Carolina, 9-0, in their second game of the day on Friday ... SBU then defeated the IPFW Mastodons, 6-3, in its only game of the day on Saturday ... Freshman Nick Tropeano picked up the first victory of his collegiate career against IPFW, allowing just an unearned run in 4.0 innings of relief work ... sophomore Evan Stecko-Haley started against IPFW, giving up a run in 4.0 innings ... Tansey went 3-for-5 with four RBI and two runs scored in the win over the Mastodons, including a three-run home run in the fourth inning that broke a 1-1 tie ... Tansey hit .357 (6-for-17) in the four-game Resort Classic and knocked in a team-high six runs.

The Catamounts (0-6, 0-0 AE) played three games at Mississippi over the weekend ... The 14th-ranked Rebels swept the series but Vermont nearly pulled off an upset Sunday in a narrow 3-2 defeat to the SEC powerhouse ... Sophomore centerfielder Mark Micowski (Haddam, Conn.) continued his hot start to the season going 6-for-14 (.429) with two doubles against Ole Miss. After six games, all against SEC foes, he is hitting .409 ... Senior lefthander Justin Albert (Hull, Mass.) had an excellent outing at Ole Miss Sunday allowing five hits and three runs with four strikeouts over six innings ... Two Catamounts went deep in the series at Mississippi. Senior Jeff Nolet (Concord, Mass.) hit UVM's first homer of the season Friday night and freshman Mike McCarthy (Wallingford, Conn.) belted his first career home run Saturday ... Vermont did not have an extra-base hit in its series at Vanderbilt but seven of its 26 hits went for extra bases at Ole Miss ... UVM continues its Spring Break trip moving over to the RussMart Central Florida Invitational in Winter Haven, Fla. for five games this week ... The Cats play Miami-Ohio (Tuesday), Eastern Kentucky (Wednesday), Bucknell (Thursday), Toledo (Friday) and Sacred Heart (Saturday).