CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Only four weekends remain in America East baseball regular season play as the teams continue their second trip around the conference. Maine holds a 3.5 game lead on first place with 12 games remaining, while only four games separates fourth place from sixth. Here are the weekend matchups:
UMBC (11-12, 5-13) at Albany (17-16-1, 10-8)
Sat., April 27, 12 p.m. – Mac Gill, UMBC (2-3, 4.44 ERA) vs. Kasceim Graham, Albany (5-4, 3.83 ERA)
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Sat., April 27, 3 p.m. – Denis Mikush, UMBC (1-2, 4.22 ERA) vs. Austin Chase, Albany (4-3, 5.06 ERA)
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Sun., April 28, 12 p.m. – Mike Gomez, UMBC (1-3, 3.82 ERA) vs. TBA
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Albany took two of three from UMBC in Baltimore in the first meeting between the two squads and the Great Danes enter Saturday winners of four of their last five games. In that stretch, Albany has scored 57 runs, including a 23-run outburst in the first game against Hartford last weekend. Outfielder Josh Nethaway leads the team with a.352 batting average and has 12 doubles.
UMBC lost two of three at Binghamton last weekend and then split midweek games against Coppin State and George Washington. The Retrievers had a pair of outstanding pitching performances last weekend, including rookie Denis Mikush tossing seven shutout innings in a 1-0 UMBC victory.
Maine (24-15, 13-4) at Hartford (12-26, 9-9)
Sat., April 27, 12 p.m. – Tommy Lawrence, Maine (7-2, 1.82 ERA) vs. Kyle Gauthier, Hartford (1-5, 7.31 ERA)
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Sat., April 27, 3 p.m. – AJ Bazdanes, Maine (5-3, 3.34 ERA) vs. Brian Hunter, Hartford (2-3, 3.68 ERA)
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Sun., April 28, 12 p.m. – Mike Connolly, Maine (4-2, 1.79 ERA) vs. Sean Newcomb, Hartford (3-3, 4.70 ERA)
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Maine continues to inch closer to the America East regular-season crown and has not lost a conference series yet this season. The Black Bears had a nine-game winning streak snapped with a 1-0 loss in 10 innings in the team’s series finale against Stony Brook last weekend, and took two of three from Hartford the first time the teams played. Maine leads the league in batting average, runs, hits, doubles, home runs, walks and stolen bases. Tommy Lawrence is a perfect 6-0 in conference play, winning each of his six starts.
Hartford holds a two-game lead on Stony Brook for the final spot in the America East Championship. The Hawks are third in the league in conference games in batting at .262 and have scored 98 runs. Starting pitcher Sean Newcomb leads the conference in strikeouts with 51 in six conference games.
Stony Brook (15-27, 7-11) at Binghamton (20-14, 9-8)
Sat., April 27, 12 p.m. – Jake Lambert, Binghamton (4-1, 3.79 ERA) vs. Frankie Vanderka, Stony Brook (4-3, 2.23 ERA)
Sat., April 27, 3 p.m. - Jack Rogalla, Binghamton (3-3, 2.31 ERA) vs. Brandon McNitt, Stony Brook (2-4, 4.01 ERA)
Sun., April 28, 12 p.m. – Jay Lynch, Binghamton (4-3, 2.06 ERA) vs. Daniel Zamora, Stony Brook (1-6, 4.15 ERA)
Binghamton is just 0.5 games behind second-place Albany entering the weekend and won two of three against the Seawolves the first time around. The Bearcats boast the nation’s leading on-base man, as Jake Thomas has a .547 on-base percentage while also leading the conference in league games in hitting at .413.
Stony Brook’s Frankie Vanderka has been outstanding on the mound and is 3-1 with a 2.20 ERA during conference play. The reigning champs are two games out of a spot in the America East Championship heading into the weekend. Two rookies have really stood out for Stony Brook including Jack Parenty, who is hitting .328 in conference play, and reigning rookie of the week Daniel Zamora, who threw eight shutout innings last weekend.