New for the 2011-2012 seasons, the America East Daily Word, a collaboration between AmericaEast.com and AExtra, will recap the previous day's games and on goings on our nine campuses and provide links to previews, recaps, features and exclusive coverage.

After more than a month of non-conference battles to shake loose the baseball cobwebs, conference play on the diamond is officially underway. The first weekend of league play set the stage for what will be an extremely competitive April and May.

UMBC and Maine got things started on Friday with the first doubleheader of the conference slate in Baltimore. The Black Bear offense went off. Maine scored 72 runs over the four-game set against the Retrievers including a 32-14 win on Friday night. The 32 runs broke the previous conference single-game record of 26. And the Black Bears’ 25 RBIs is the second most ever in a league game. For more on this series, check out the recaps from the Bangor Daily News.

Stony Brook and Binghamton tangled on Long Island and the Seawolves took two of three from the Bearcats. Tyler Johnson tossed a five-hit gem in game one and Willie Carmona drove in two in game two to power Stony Brook. In the series finale, Binghamton’s Jake Thomas blasted a two-run homer and the bullpen pitched four innings of scoreless ball to give the Bearcats their first conference win of 2012.

Albany traveled to West Hartford in the final conference series this weekend and returned to the state capital with two wins over the Hawks. The Danes picked up two one-run victories on Saturday before Hartford took game three behind Sean Newcomb’s six strikeouts. Check out highlights and reaction from Hartford’s win on Sunday.

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