LOWELL, Mass. - The 2013 America East Baseball Championship begins Wednesday with a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Mass., the home to Boston Red Sox Single-A affiliate Lowell Spinners.
The tournament begins with No. 1 seed Maine taking on No. 4 Stony Brook at 4 p.m. followed by No. 2 Binghamton vs. No. 3 Albany at 8 p.m. All games will be streamed live for free at AmericaEast.com with Eric Frede and Bryan Geary on the call.
No. 1 Maine vs. No. 4 Stony Brook - 4 p.m.
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Maine and Stony Brook meet in a rematch of the 2012 title game that saw the Seawolves advance to the NCAA tournament and eventually the College World Series. This season, the Black Bears won their first regular-season title since 2002 and beat Stony Brook in four of the six meetings. Maine boasts the America East Player of the Year (Michael Fransoso), Pitcher of the Year (Tommy Lawrence) and Coach of the Year (Steve Trimper).
Stony Brook brings in a young, talented team that had three unanimous selections to the America East All-Rookie team including Rookie of the Year Jack Parenty, second team all-conference reliever Tim Knesnik and starting pitcher Daniel Zamora. The Seawolves will send first-team all-conference pitcher Frankie Vanderka to the mound in game one.
No. 2 Binghamton vs. No. 3 Albany
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Albany is 5-3 all-time in the America East Championship against Binghamton. The Bearcats defeated Albany in the first round match-up last year, 2-1. Binghamton enters the championship with one of the most consisten rotations of any team in the conference. The Bearcats boast first-team all-conference pitcher, Jay Lynch, along with second team selection Jake Lambert. Jake Thomas has paced the Binghamton offense and ranks second in the nation with a .524 on-base percentage.
Albany has a pair of second-team all-conference selections including game one starter Kasceim Graham along with Austin Chase. Greg Muller, a second-team all-conference first baseman, tied for the league lead with 27 RBI in conference play.