CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- University of Maine sophomore outfielder Taylor Lewis (Montville, Conn./Montville) had a record-setting weekend to claim his third Player of the Week award of the 2009-10 season. UMBC senior hurler Ed Bach (Columbia, Md./Atholton) and Black Bear freshman Tyler Patzalek (Burlington, Ontario/Notre Dame) claimed their first weekly awards, the pitcher and rookie of the week, respectively. All three awards were for the week ending April 11.
Lewis batted .625 in four games last week with eight runs scored and eight RBI, including a .615 mark in a three-game set with conference foe Albany. His most outstanding game of the week was the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader against the Great Danes in which the sophomore went 4-for-4, hitting for the cycle with two runs scored and one RBI. Lewis belted a triple in that game, his ninth of the season, to break the school’s single-season triples record that had gone untouched since 1932. He capped off the day with four RBI and a home run in the second game. With 10 hits, including three doubles, two triples and two home runs, on the week, Lewis finished with a 1.462 slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .643.
Bach made three relief appearances for the Retrievers on the week, helping UMBC take three of four in its America East series with Hartford. The senior led the team with 10 strikeouts in 9.1 innings pitched without giving up a run. Bach earned the win in game one on Saturday against the Hawks, throwing the last 4.2 innings, allowing just one hit with four strikeouts. He followed the performance up the next day with a save in game two. Pitching the final 2.2 innings, Bach allowed just one hit. Earlier in the week against Georgetown, he pitched two strong innings out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit and striking out two Hoyas.
Patzalek got the start at third base in all four of the Black Bears’ games last week, batting .529 with nine hits, eight runs and four RBI. In the series finale against Albany, the rookie went 3-for-4 with a walk, a steal and three runs scored. Patzalek had a pair of hits and three RBI against Thomas earlier in the week. He also clubbed a home run in the game. Patzalek recorded a hit and an RBI in all four games, bringing his overall season batting average to .317 with 18 runs scored.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (2-22, 1-2 AE) kicked off America East Conference play with a three-game series against Maine over the weekend… The Great Danes won the opener, 11-10, before dropping both ends of a doubleheader on Sunday, 9-2 and 11-5… Freshmen Brian Bullard (West Nyack, N.Y./St. Joseph) and Nolan Gaige (East Greenbush, N.Y./Columbia) paced the team in the four games… Bullard hit .400 with six hits, five runs scored and two RBI, while Gaige posted a .375 batting average with six hits, including a double and a home run… Gaige also earned the start on the mound against Manhattan on Wednesday, fanning two in three and two thirds innings of work, while also knocking out three base hits and scoring two runs... Junior Kyle Crean (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) and sophomore Adam Cutspec (Fort Plain, N.Y./Fort Plain) led the team with five RBI each over the four games… Crean’s RBI single in the first game against Maine drove in the deciding run for the Great Danes… On the mound, Dave Kubiak (Southold, N.Y./Southold) and Zach Kraham (Ghent, N.Y./Chatham) both struck out seven opposing batters in starts against the Black Bears… Lefty Greg Lutton (New Haven, Vt./Mt. Abraham/Vermont) made three appearances out of the bullpen, accumulating a 2.45 ERA and earning the win against Maine… Freshman Christian Garcia (Ganesvoort, N.Y./Saratoga Central Catholic) made two appearances in relief, striking out two without allowing a run… Albany will return to action with a non-conference doubleheader at Marist on Tuesday before visiting Hartford for a three-game series over the weekend.
Binghamton (9-15, 2-1 AE) went 3-1 during the week, beating Cornell in extra innings midweek before taking two of three against Stony Brook in the conference-opening series. The Bearcats have won nine of their last 11 series against America East opponents dating back to the beginning of the 2008 season... Junior No. 1 James Giulietti (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-JFK) fired a two-hit shutout to beat the Seawolves in the opener. Giulietti retired the side in order in five of the seven innings and allowed only a first-inning single and a fourth-inning double. He lowered his conference-best ERA to 2.38… Junior outfielder Henry Dunn (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) collected eight RBI in the four games during the week. Dunn produced a career-high five RBI without the benefit of an extra-base hit against Cornell… Junior catcher C.J. Lukaszewski (Kingston, N.Y./Kingston) hit a team-best .571 during the week with an on-base percentage of .625… Sophomore Mike Augliera (Old Bridge, N.J./Old Bridge) regained his form with two solid pitching outings. Augliera had a 0.90 ERA for the week. He tossed two innings of one-hit scoreless ball at Cornell and then earned a win over Stony Brook with eight innings of one-run pitching… Junior outfielder Corey Taylor (Vestal, N.Y./Vestal) continued his RBI pace with four more during the week. Taylor has 29 RBI in 24 games, including 14 in his last eight games… Senior second baseman Jim Calderone (Home Glen, Ill./Rice/Oakton CC) hit .500 for the week to raise his team-best average to .366. Calderone has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 games… After a midweek contest at Siena, the Bearcats welcome a Maine team that was picked to win the 2010 America East title. The teams split a four-game set last year in Orono but the Bearcats have won 10 of the last 14 games in the series.
Hartford (6-17, 1-3 AE) went 1-5 for the week, including a 1-3 record in its America East opening series against UMBC … With the exception of a 12-2 defeat at the hands of in-state rival UConn to open the week, the Hawks lost by an average of less than three runs a game, with the widest margin (5) coming in 12 innings… Hartford was paced by strong starting pitching and a productive offense led by senior Mike Amendola… Amendola went 9-for-21 on the week, including at least one hit in every game he played… The senior catcher went 5-for-7 in the Hawks’ 12-inning loss to UMBC on Saturday, and added a three-run home run to ice the game away in the Hawks’ lone victory of the week on Sunday… Mike Thatcher pitched his first career complete game in Hartford’s 10-2 victory over UMBC on Sunday… Hartford committed 19 errors on the week, including seven in a 14-9, 12-inning loss… The Hawks continued to benefit from the big inning as they have all season – Hartford scored four or more runs in an inning in each of its games with UMBC over the weekend… Sophomore Andrew Siano and senior Jon Ricco each hit their first career home runs in Hartford’s 14-9, 12-inning loss to UMBC on Saturday.
The University of Maine baseball team (17-14, 2-1 AE) won two of three games at Albany to open America East Conference play… The Black Bears began the week with a 20-0 win over Thomas College… For the second time in two weeks, the Black Bears scored 13 runs in an inning, one shy of tying the school record… Senior Joe Mercurio (Brewster, N.Y./Brewster) was 4-for-6 with three runs scored and five RBI against Thomas… He belted a grand slam in the first inning… Mercurio currently has an 11-game hitting streak… Sophomore center fielder Taylor Lewis (Montville, Conn./Montville) was 4-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI on Sunday in the first game at Albany… He hit for the cycle in the game… He doubled in the second inning, singled in the third inning, homered in the fifth inning and belted a triple in the sixth inning… He becomes the first Black Bear to hit for the cycle since Rex Turner did it in 1997… The triple was the ninth of the season for Lewis, breaking the school record of eight set in 1932 by Amel Kizonak… Tony Patane (New Milford, Conn./New Milford) also had an outstanding week for the Black Bears… He hit .647 with five runs scored and six RBI… Maine belted nine home runs on the week and currently has 29 on the season… Rookie hurler Jeffrey Gibbs (Toronto, Ontario/Birchmount Park) picked up his team-leading fourth win of the season against Albany… He leads Maine in strikeouts with 49… The Black Bears head to Binghamton for a four-game series with the Bearcats this weekend.
UMBC (7-17, 3-1 AE) won its conference-opening series for the first time since 2001, taking 3-of-4 at Hartford over the weekend... Junior Bryan Russo (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) led the bats, hitting .500 against the Hawks with seven hits, four extra-base hits, six RBI and a slugging percentage of .929... Senior Ed Bach (Columbia, Md./Atholton) pitched 9.1 innings of scoreless relief in three appearances on the week, allowing just three hits while striking out 10 batters... Russo now leads the Retrievers on the season with three home runs and 18 runs batted in... The Retrievers return to action Wednesday when they face Maryland at home, the first time UMBC will have played at home in 37 days, before travelling to Stony Brook for a three game series on Saturday and Sunday.
The Seawolves (11-16, 2-1 AE) opened conference play this weekend with a three-game series at Binghamton… The Bearcats took two of three from the Seawolves… Sophomore Nick Tropeano allowed just two runs on five hits in 6.0 innings in the Seawolves’ 2-0 loss in the opener… Stony Brook’s victory came in an 8-3 win in the second game on Saturday… Sophomore Tyler Johnson earned the victory, allowing three runs on five hits in 7.0 innings… Stony Brook trailed 3-0 early but rallied to tie the game at three heading to the seventh… Senior Michael Stephan led off the inning with a single and freshman William Carmona then hit a go-ahead two-run home run that gave Stony Brook a 5-3 lead… Senior Michael Barbot pitched 2.0 scoreless innings to close the game out… Stephan posted an on-base percentage of .500 in the series against Binghamton… Stephen Marino went 4-for-11 (.364) in the series and leads Stony Brook with 11 multi-hit games…The series at Binghamton concluded an opening stretch in which the Seawolves played 27 of their first 28 games away from home … SBU hosts UMBC for a three-game set this weekend.