CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of Maine's Kevin McAvoy (Brewer, Maine/Brewer) slugged his way to the America East Baseball Player of the Week honor for the week ending March 15. Joining him with weekly recognition is teammate Ian Leisenheimer (Middle Village, N.Y./Holy Cross High) as the Rookie of the Week and Binghamton's Murphy Smith (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa) as Pitcher of the Week.
McAvoy, a senior outfielder, helped the Black Bears to a 5-2 week down in Florida. He hit .500 in seven games and 22 at bats with 11 hits and 10 runs scored. McAvoy finished the week with a 1.136 slugging percentage and a .593 on base percentage, while driving in nine RBI. He belted two home runs in a 12-8 win over Georgetown, a game where he went 2-for-4 with five RBI and two runs scored. The same day, McAvoy blasted his third home run and went 2-for-5 in a loss to Rollins College. For the week, he finished with two doubles and four homeruns.
Smith, a junior righty, secured his second Pitcher of the Week of the season with seven innings of one-hit ball against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Saturday. He allowed just one earned run, struck out six batters, and walked one, while moving to 2-1 on the season.
A designated hitter, Leisenheimer is the top rookie for the second consecutive week after he hit .414 in 29 at-bats, scoring nine runs and clubbing 12 hits. The freshman tied a school record with two triples in a single game during Maine's 5-2 win over Penn early in the week. In an 11-7 win over Georgetown, Leisenheimer went 4-for-5 with four runs scored, three RBI and a home run. He also drew two walks and batted in 12 runs for the week.
Team Notebooks:
UAlbany (2-10, 0-0 America East) played four games over the
weekend against in-state opponents... The Great Danes dropped two games to
defending Big East Conference champions St.
John’s, and split a doubleheader against NY Tech on
Saturday... UAlbany was leading the Red Storm on Friday before falling 8-6, and
lost a 14-7 decision on Sunday... NY Tech came out on top, 4-2, in the first
game, but UAlbany recorded a 7-4 win in the nightcap... Sophomore second baseman
Kyle Crean (Miller Place,
N.Y./Miller Place) led the Great Danes over the weekend... Crean batted .692 over
the four games, recording nine hits, including one double and one home run... He
scored one run and drove in seven more... Crean went 3-for-3 in both ends of the
doubleheader with NYIT, recording a two-run homer in the first while scoring
one run and driving in two more in the second... Senior catcher Gary Pitcheralle
(Mechanicville, N.Y./Mechanicville/Alfred State) hit .400 over the weekend... He
finished with six hits, including a double and a home run, and was 3-for-4 in
stolen base attempts... Senior right hander Josh Willimott (East
Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) posted a 1.69 ERA over the weekend...
Willimott started the first game against St.
John’s on Friday, striking out five while allowing
just one earned run over 5.1 innings... The Great Danes will return to action
over the weekend, traveling to UNC Greensboro for a three-game series.
Binghamton (3-6, 0-0) played a pair of games at Maryland-Eastern Shore and took both by 4-1 and 13-1 scores. In
the opener, senior Jeff Dennis scattered
seven hits over seven innings to post the complete-game win.
Dennis struck out five and the Bearcats made the most of their
six hits with two runs in the second, one in the third and one
in the sixth. In
game two, junior starter Murphy Smith
pitched seven innings of one-hit ball and BU rapped 15 hits in
the rout. The Bearcats broke an early 1-1 tie with three runs
in the fourth, one in the fifth and two in the sixth. Binghamton
then scored six runs in the eighth inning before the game was
halted after eight due to rain. Smith (2-1) struck out six and
walked one. Senior third baseman Kyle Klee went 5-for-9 (.556) in the two games, scoring four runs, driving in three runs and belting a home run.
The Hartford baseball team (1-6, 0-0) finished 1-2 in a
three-game series against Central Florida this past weekend in Orlando, FL ...
The Hawks continue a week-long stay in the Sunshine State with games against
Jacksonville State, Bradley, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio State in Winterhaven,
FL ... Hartford was shutout in the first game, 5-0, with six total hits ... Weston
Szymanski suffered his second loss of the season in his second start ... He
pitched six full innings allowing four earned runs on eight hits with three
strike outs ... in the second game of the series, a four-run rally in the ninth
propelled the Hawks to their first win of the season, 7-3 ... the Hawks saw three
players finish with two RBI each, Brady
Stouffer, Mike Amendola and Andy Drexel ... Stouffer led all players
with three hits in five at bats, while scoring two runs ... In the rubber-game
the Hawks allowed a five run rally in the seventh inning, which gave UCF a lead
they wouldn’t relinquish, falling 16-12 ... Drexel led the Hawks in the final
game of the series, going 2-of-4 with three RBI and a run scored ... all three of
his RBI came on a three-run blast in the top of the first inning.
The
University of Maine baseball team (10-7, 0-0) went 5-2 on the week
in Florida... Maine was led by Kevin McAvoy (Brewer, Maine/Brewer) who hit .500
on the week with 10 runs scored and nine RBI... He belted four home runs,
including a pair in Maine’s 12-8 win over Georgetown... McAvoy finished the week with
a 1.136 slugging percentage... Ian Leisenheimer (Middle Village, N.Y.) continued
to put up impressive numbers for the Black Bears... He hit .414 on the week with
nine runs scored and a team-high 12 RBI... He had two triples and one home run...
He tied a Maine school record with two triples on March 9 against Penn... Billy
Cather (Worcester, Mass./Worcester Academy) hit .500 on the week for the Black
Bears with eight runs scored... Cather leads all Black Bears with an eight game
hitting streak... Rookie pitcher Pat Quinn (Quaker Hill, Conn./Waterford) saw hit
first collegiate action on the mound when he pitched in relief in Maine’s game
against Georgetown... He struck out seven batters... He allowed just one run on two
hits over seven innings as Maine overcame a 7-2 deficit to win 11-7... Maine is
7-1 this season in games played at neutral sites.
UMBC (1-5, 0-0) dropped three games
this past week to Yale, Towson and Ohio State... Senior Shawn Retz (Baltimore, Md./Western Tech/Catonsville C.C.) leads the Retrievers with four home runs on
the season, while sophomore Bryan Russo (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) has hit three after not hitting a single one last year... Junior Kevin Clark (Alexandria,
Va./Hayfield/Catonsville C.C.) started his first game for UMBC, allowing two
hits and one unearned run in four innings of work against Towson on Wednesday... Sophomore Casey Medairy (Elkridge, Md./Howard) and freshman Justin
Lamborn (Glen Mills, Pa./Garnett Valley) each had two hits against Ohio State
for their first multi-hit games of the season... The Retrievers are in Florida
for Spring Break, playing five games this week, highlighted by a game at Miami on Wednesday night.
The Seawolves did not play this week as their
schedule three-game series at Virginia Commonwealth was canceled due to
inclement weather ... Stony Brook returns to action on Tuesday, traveling to take
Big East opponent Seton Hall ... The Seawolves open their home schedule this
weekend with a four-game series against Le Moyne College ... The series against
Le Moyne begins a stretch in which the Seawolves will play 12 of their next 14
games at home.
Vermont (0-11, 0-0) played five
games at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational in Winter Haven and
Lakeland, Fla. last week
... Sophomore shortstop Matt Duffy
(Milton, Mass./St. Sebastian's) returned to the lineup after missing the first
six games and hit a torrid .647 (11-for-17) in five games with a double, a
homer, four RBI and seven runs scored. He capped the week by reaching base 10
straight times in the last two games going 5-for-5 against Toledo and 4-for-4
with a walk against Sacred Heart ... Duffy's nine hits in nine consecutive at
bats is two away from the Vermont school record set by Ethan Barlow in 1995 ...
Sophomore centerfielder Mark Micowski
(Haddam, Conn./Xavier) hit safely in all five games (.444) in Florida and has
hit in nine straight and 10 of the first 11 games at .409. He has team-highs of
five doubles and six stolen bases ... Senior second baseman Brad CurrierMike McCarthy (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman
Hall) continued a great start to his career by hitting .412
(7-for-17) with two doubles and two RBI last week. He is hitting .344 to open
the season ... UVM,
searching for its first win of the campaign, returns north and takes on former
America East rival Hofstra in a four-game series with a pair of twinbills this
Saturday and Sunday. (Essex Junction,
Vt./Essex) had a great week hitting safely in all five contests at .381 with
three multi-hit games while driving in three runs ... Currier is hitting an
improved .364 after hitting only .238 a year ago ... Freshman catcher Mike McCarthy
(Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall) continued a great start to his career
by hitting .412 (7-for-17) with two doubles and two RBI last week. He is
hitting .344 to open the season ... UVM, searching for its first win of the campaign, returns
north and takes on former America East rival Hofstra in a four-game series with
a pair of twinbills this Saturday and Sunday.