CAMBRIDGE, Mass.-- This week's trio of baseball award winners led their respective teams to wins in America East Conference weekend series. University of Maine senior catcher Joe Mercurio (Brewster, N.Y./Kennedy Catholic) took claim to the Player of the Week award, while Stony Brook University teammates Nick Tropeano (West Islip, N.Y./West Islip) and Tanner Nivins (Kitchener, Ontario/St. Mary's) earned pitcher and rookie of the week laurels, respectively.
Mercurio batted .500 last week with six runs scored and seven RBI. He also had a .570 on-base percentage and a 1.500 slugging percentage. The senior catcher belted a home run in each of the three games in the weekend series at Hartford, also adding three doubles to his series performance. In Saturday’s stand alone game, Mercurio went 1-for-4 with two runs, one run batted in and a walk. In the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader, the catcher drove in five of the team’s 10 runs, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and two more runs. In the weekend finale, Mercurio went 2-for-5 at the plate with two runs and another RBI. A two-time player of the week recipient this season, Mercurio ranks fifth in the conference stats with a .366 batting average, first with 18 doubles, third with 10 homers, and second with 49 RBI and 109 total bases.
Tropeano, a righty, hurled a four-hit shutout in the Seawolves’ 17-0 win over UMBC on Saturday. He allowed just four singles and struck out 11 batters in seven innings of work. It was his third complete game in his last four starts and the third time this season he has struck out at least 10 batters. By not allowing a run last week, Tropeano lowered his second-best ERA in the league to 2.84, including just 1.54 in America East action. In league play, he is 4-1, while Tropeano sports a 6-3 record overall. The sophomore leads the league in strikeouts with 75 in 69.2 innings pitched. This is Tropeano’s second Pitcher of the Week award this season.
Another repeat honoree, Nivins received his second rookie award this season. In four games last week, he batted .455 with 10 RBI and six runs. Nivins recorded a pair of runs in each of game of a three-game series at UMBC over the weekend, while also driving in at least three runs in each of those games. In Saturday’s first game, Nivins went 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBI. In the next game, he drove in four runs, including a three-run home run. In Sunday’s win, the rookie belted another three-run home run and finished 1-for-2 on the afternoon. Nivins recorded an on-base percentage of .769 and a slugging percentage of 1.625 in the series.
Team Notebooks:
Albany (9-34, 8-10 AE) went winless on the week, falling to non-conference opponent Le Moyne on Tuesday before getting swept by Binghamton in America East Conference action over the weekend… Senior centerfielder Brendan Rowland (Albany, N.Y./Colonie Central) hit .333 for the week… he recorded six hits, including three doubles and one home run, scoring two runs and driving in eight more… He was also 1-for-1 on stolen base attempts… Rowland is currently ranked nationally in consecutive games started with 158… Shortstop Kyle Crean (Miller Place, N.Y./Miller Place) led the Great Danes with a .357 average for the week… He finished with five hits, including a double and a home run, in 14 at bats… On the mound, Dave Kubiak (Southold, N.Y./Southold) and Zach Kraham (Ghent, N.Y./Chatham) both produced complete-game performances for the Great Danes… Kubiak started the first game on Saturday against Binghamton, striking out five… Kraham was the first game starter on Sunday, and held the Bearcats to a .111 batting average, allowing just two hits and walking one… In the second game on Sunday, Albany recorded six hits, five of which were doubles… The Great Danes will continue conference play over the weekend, visiting Maine for a three-game series.
Binghamton (24-18, 15-3 AE) went undefeated during the week with a four-game sweep of Albany. The Bearcats have won four of five America East series this spring with a split in the fifth. Binghamton has a three-game lead in the loss column and can claim its fourth consecutive regular season title with four wins in its final six games… The Bearcats have won eight in a row, 13 of 14 and 18 of their last 22 games… In conference play, Binghamton is hitting .381 as a team and has a 4.44 ERA. Every starter is hitting .315 or higher against AE opponents… Junior lefty James Giulietti (Plainview, N.Y./Plainview-JFK) continued his winning ways with a complete-game victory against Albany. Giulietti (7-2) struck out nine in seven innings and is now 5-0 with a 0.77 ERA against America East foes. He has 31 strikeouts and one walk in 35.0 innings of conference play. Giulietti also tied the school record for wins in a season… Freshman Joe Swindells (Mansfield, Pa./Mansfield) improved to 4-1 with 5.0 scoreless innings of relief in game 2. Swindells allowed just one hit and lowered his season ERA to 4.76… Junior outfielder Corey Taylor racked up five RBI in the Albany series to break his own school record for season RBIs, which now stands at 59. Taylor belted his league-leading 12th home run – a three-run shot into a strong wind in game 4… Freshman third baseman Mike Thompson (Flemington, N.J./Hunterdon) hit .500 in the Albany series and owns a team-best .407 average… Junior outfielder Henry Dunn (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) won game 1 with a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh inning. Dunn is hitting .364 with 22 RBI in 18 conference games… Junior pinch hitter Jeff Skelhorne-Gross (Mississauga, Ontario/Lorne Park Secondary) won game 2 with a two-out, walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth.
Hartford (9-31, 3-14 AE) snapped a nine-game losing streak when it knocked off Maine in the first game of a three-game series, 7-6… That would prove to be the only victory of the week, as the Hawks dropped the final two games to the Black Bears and had previously lost to Central Connecticut on Tuesday… Andrew Siano paced the Hartford offense, scoring eight runs over the week and reaching base the first seven times he came to the plate against Maine… He scored on six of those seven chances… Siano led off the Hawks’ victory with a home run on the first pitch he saw in the first inning… He added three other extra-base hits and batted .385 for the week… Earlier in the week, Andy Drexel slammed two home runs against CCSU, becoming the first Hawk since 2004 to reach 10 home runs in a season… Chris Greiner pitched 5.2 solid innings for Hartford in their victory over Maine, although it was Steve Sobocinski that earned the victory with 3.1 innings of one-hit relief work… Hartford honored seniors Mike Amendola, Jon Ricco, Bob Rogers and Zach Tarner in the annual Senior Day ceremony prior to Sunday’s games… Rogers and freshman Anthony Mannuccia pitched strong relief to close out Sunday’s first game… The Hawks are back in action over the weekend as they visit Stony Brook for a four-game set.
The University of Maine baseball team (27-19, 11-6 AE) took two of three games for Hartford over the weekend… After falling in the first game on Saturday, Maine rebounded to sweep the doubleheader on Sunday… Maine hit five triples on the weekend and now has 28 on the season, eclipsing the school record of 25 set in 2006… The Black Bears have hit at least one triple in five straight games… Taylor Lewis (Montville, Conn./Montville) has 13 triples, while Matt Howard (Weston, Mass.) has five and Michael Fransoso (Portsmouth, N.H./Portsmouth) has four… Fransoso tied a school record with two triples on Sunday afternoon against Hartford… Maine as a team finished with a .600 slugging percentage in the three games against Hartford… Joe Mercurio (Kennedy Catholic) had a home run in all three games against the Hawks… He leads Maine in doubles (18), home runs (10) and is tied for the team-lead in RBI with 49… Maine as a team has turned 55 double plays on the season and for the past few weeks has been among the national leaders…. Maine has been outscored in the first and eighth innings, but then has outscored opponents in every other inning this season… Mercurio and Lewis both have 49 RBI on the season… The last time that the Black Bears has two or more players with 50 or more RBI was in 2006 when four different players drove in 50 or more runs… Maine is 18-0 when leading after eight innings… The Black Bears will host former America East rival Northeastern at Goodall Park in Sanford, Maine on Tuesday, May 11, before returning home to host Albany for a three-game America East series this weekend.
UMBC (9-32, 4-13 AE) dropped its four games last week, including three to conference foe Stony Brook over the weekend... Sophomore Brian Klukowicz (Clifton, N.J./St. Peter’s Prep) hit two home runs in the second game on Saturday against the Seawolves and now is the team leader in batting average (.308) and is tied for the lead in home runs with four with junior Bryan Russo (Westbury, N.Y./Clarke) and sophomore Max Himmelstein (Moorestown, N.J./Moorestown)... Freshman Samuel Bashioum (Fayette City, Pa./Belle Vernon Area) leads the team ERA at 3.58 in 27.2 innings pitched... The Retrievers return to action Tuesday when they play host to local rival Towson at 6 p.m. before hosting Binghamton in a three-game series Friday and Saturday.
The Seawolves (22-22, 11-6 AE) swept a three-game series from UMBC over the weekend… Stony Brook scored 67 runs and had 67 hits in the three-game set against the Retrievers … Stony Brook won the opening game of the series, 17-0… Sophomore Nick Tropeano hurled a four-hit shutout, striking out 11… It was his third complete game in his last four starts … It was also the third time this season he has struck out 10 batters or more… SBU then cruised to a 26-6 win in the second game… The Seawolves scored 16 runs in the second inning… Stony Brook had 16 hits and sent 21 men to the plate in the inning… Senior Michael Stephan led the way with four hits and five RBI… Sophomore Pat Cantwell, and freshman Willie Carmona and Tanner Nivins each drove in four runs… Sophomore Tyler Johnson picked up his team-high seventh win… The Seawolves then completed the sweep with a 24-2 win on Sunday… Stony Brook scored seven runs in both the first and fourth inning… Stephan and Echevarria each hit a three-run home run in the first… Cantwell is currently on a 17-game hitting streak… Stephan and Nivins each drove in 10 runs in the three-game series against UMBC… Freshman Willie Carmona hit .636 against UMBC… SBU had 31 extra-base hits against the Retievers… The Seawolves will now play their final seven regular season games at home.