CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of Hartford junior shortstop Simon Kudernatsch (Czech Republic/Prague West) was named America East Baseball Player of the Week, while University of Maine freshmen Stephen Perakslis (Abington, Mass./Abington) and Michael Fransoso (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) were named pitcher and rookie of the week, respectively.
Batting second in all four Hartford games last week, Kudernatsch keyed an offense which averaged over nine runs a game. The junior shortstop batted .550 in 20 at bats with 11 hits, seven runs and six RBI. Kudernatsch legged out three doubles and two triples for an on-base percentage of .571 and a slugging percentage of .900 last week. Kudernatsch recorded multiple hits in all four games, including four hits in the season opener against Central Connecticut, a game in which he also drove in four runs. In the 12-11 comeback victory against the Blue Devils, he also flexed his muscles on defense, making an over-the-shoulder catch at shortstop while colliding with his left-fielder to protect the win in the ninth inning.
Perakslis, 6-1, 185-lb righty, picked up the win in Maine’s 17-3 victory over Georgetown last Wednesday. He allowed just two hits and one run over seven innings, striking out 11 batters in just his second career start. The freshman took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. The 11 strikeouts is the most by an America East pitcher so far this season.
As a leadoff hitter for the Black Bears, Fransoso had at least one hit in all five games on the week and multiple runs in four of those five games. He finished the week batting .333 with 10 runs, six hits, three RBI and three doubles. Fransoso also drew seven walks to finish with a .538 on-base percentage and a .500 slugging percentage. The second baseman was a perfect 3-for-3 on steal attempts, while scoring three runs each in the games on March 8 against Penn and March 10 against Georgetown.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (0-6, 0-0 AE) did not play any games this week after a four-game series with NY Tech was postponed due to rain… The Great Danes will return to action tomorrow for a double header at NY Tech to make up last weekend's rainout. First pitch is scheduled for noon.
Binghamton (1-6, 0-0 AE) was idle for the week after a scheduled three-game set at UMES was rained out. The Bearcats have added a doubleheader at Cornell on March 16… Senior outfielder Joe Charron (Schaghticoke, N.Y./La Salle Institute) leads all starters with a .448 average… Sophomore first baseman Dave Ciocchi (Hopewell Junction, N.Y./John Jay) is hitting .367 with a team-high eight RBI… Junior outfielder Peter Bregartner (East Islip, N.Y./East Islip) is batting .462 with two home runs and six RBI… Binghamton is batting .293 as a team but its pitching staff has been saddled with an 8.63 ERA.
Hartford (2-2, 0-0 AE) opened its season 2-0 for the first time since 2004 before dropping its last two games at Central Florida … Came back from a 10-4 deficit to claim a 12-11 season-opening victory at Central Connecticut on Wednesday … Hawks were powered by 12 hits, seven RBIs and six runs scored from the top three batters in the order against the Blue Devils … Hartford pitching did not allow a run after the fifth inning … Anthony Mannuccia struck out the side in a 1-2-3 sixth, and Brian Rice earned a save in his first collegiate appearance to close out the game … Mike Amendola’s RBI in the ninth inning capped the comeback and gave the Hawks their first lead of the game … Simon Kudernatsch drove in four runs on four hits including a double and a triple … Against Central Florida on Saturday, Hartford benefited from home runs by Amendola and Andy Drexel to claim a second straight 12-11 victory … Hartford again had to come from behind, scoring three in the eighth to provide the final cushion … Bob Rogers earned the win and Rice picked up his second save … Despite facing a 10-0 deficit after the first inning in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader, Hartford battled back and made it 12-9 before falling ... The Hawks could not overcome another large hole early on Sunday, falling 24-4.
The University of Maine (7-8, 0-0 AE) baseball team went 3-2 on the week at the Rollins College Baseball Week… Maine had put together a five-game winning streak before seeing that come to an end on Saturday… Rookie Michael Fransoso (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) scored a team-high 10 runs on the week… The second baseman leads Maine with 18 runs scored on the season… Senior catcher Joe Mercurio (Brewster, N.Y./Illinois) had 10 RBI on the week… Sophomore center fielder Taylor Lewis (Montville, Conn./Montville) had a pair of triples on the week and has six on the season… He is just two shy of the Maine school record for triples in a season of eight set in 1932 by Amel Kizonak…. Lewis leads Maine with a .419 batting average… He has a .694 slugging percentage… Rookie pitcher Stephen Perakslis (Abington, Mass./Abington) picked up a win in Maine’s 17-3 win over Georgetown… He went seven innings and allowed just one run on two hits… He struck out a career-high 11 batters in the game and took a no-hitter into the sixth inning… Maine has turned 19 double plays on the season… Senior reliever Justin Latta (Lubbock, Texas/Midland College) has appeared in nine of Maine’s 15 games on the mound… Maine has one of the longest road trips possible next weekend when it travels to Corvallis, Oregon and Oregon State for a three-game series with the Beavers…. Maine last faced Oregon State in 1994 and is 0-3 all-time against the Beavers.
UMBC (0-6, 0-0 AE) is in the middle of its Spring Break trip to Florida after dropping decisions to Sacred Heart (11-1) and Bucknell (18-6) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively... Junior Marty Zawacki was the starting pitcher against the Bison and added three RBI on two singles and a sacrifice fly... Sophomore Curtis Schickner leads the Retrievers in hitting with a .444 batting average... Junior Bryan Russo leads the team with six RBI... The Retrievers face NJIT on Tuesday, North Dakota State on Thursday and Big Ten opponents Indiana and Northwestern on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Stony Brook (2-6, 0-0 AE) was swept in a four-game series at No. 25 Alabama over the weekend … It was the first ever meeting between the programs … Trailing 8-2 after three innings in the series opener, SBU rallied to tie the game at eight with five runs in the seventh inning … Alabama scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh though on its way to the 15-8 win … Freshman Tanner Nivins went 4-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored in the game …. SBU then fell 5-0 in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader… Sophomore Nick Tropeano allowed just four earned runs in his 7.0 innings of work … Tropeano did not walk a batter and struck out seven … He has struck out 13 and walked just one in his 14.1 innings of work this season … Stony Brook then dropped a 13-6 decision in the second game of the doubleheader … Nivins went 1-for-3 with three RBI in the contest … He hit .353 (6-for-17) with two doubles and six RBI in the four-game series … Alabama edged the Seawolves, 4-3, on Sunday in the series finale … Freshman Adam Brown gave up four first-inning runs but then hurled 5.2 scoreless innings before being removed with two outs in the seventh … SBU cut the Alabama lead to 4-3 with two runs in the eighth … SBU appeared to have scored the tying run in eighth on a Travis Jankowski RBI infield single with two outs … But Alabama appealed and Jankowski was ruled out for missing first base, ending the Seawolves scoring threat.