The Maine Black Bears are in Florida getting set to face the #9 Miami Hurriances in the NCAA Baseball Regionals on Friday night at 7 p.m. at Alex Rodriguez Park on Mark Light Field in Coral Gables.
Maine (32-19) is returning to the NCAA Tournament after a hiatus of 12 years, capturing the America East Championship last Saturday for the first time since 2011. The Black Bears bring in a potent offense and a seven game win streak to face the host team Friday. Sophomore first baseman Jeremiah Jenkins leads the team with a .378 batting average and is also the team leader in homeruns with 20 and RBI with 75. Junior second baseman Quinn McDaniel .355/16/44, senior designated hitter Connor Goodman .320/2/47, and junior shortstop Jake Rainess .317/16/46 have all helped the team to their success this season. The emergence of junior outfielder Nick White has also helped greatly with the loss of Dylan McNary to injury. White is hitting .397 (25-63) with three homers and 13 RBI, and also had an OPS of 1.135 and an on base percentage of .500. The speed factor has also helped manufacture runs as McDaniel is 32-38 and Rainess is 38-45 in stolen base attempts. Maine is hitting .293 as a team including 83 homeruns (breaking the program record from 1991), and defensively have committed 53 errors in their 51 games. The young pitching staff has been anchored by sophomore Colin Fitzgerald (6-1, 4.48 ERA), junior Noah Lewis (7-1, 4.41), sophomore Caleb Leys (5-0, 4.30), and freshman Gianni Gambardella (6-3, 2.91). Graduate student Justin Baeyens has sured up the back end with a 3-3 record, a 4.81 ERA, and eight saves. Fitzgerald will be the starter on Friday against Miami.
Their opponent on Friday the host #9 Miami Hurriances enter play at 40-19 on the season as runners-up of the ACC Tournament. Miami hits .300 collectively as a team led by infielder Yohandy Morales who leads them in average at .405, is tied in homeruns with 16, and has the team lead in RBI at 61 while also sporting an OPS of 1.157. Infielders CJ Kayfus .351/13/40 and Blake Cyr .303/16/60 have also had big seasons for a team that had five hitters in their lineup with double digit homeruns. On the mound, Miami has relied on right handers Gage Ziehl and Alejandro Rosario with 16 and 15 starts respectively. Ziehl is 7-4 with a 4.61 ERA and Rosario is 4-6 with a 7.45 ERA. The Hurricanes have committed 43 errors in their 59 games.
The other two participants that Maine will be likely to see at least once will open the regional at 2 p.m. Friday in Louisiana-Lafayette (40-22) out of the Sun Belt Conference and Texas (38-20) out of the Big 12. The Ragin Cajuns’ have four guys in their lineup over the .300 average plateau- Kyle Dabarge, Heath Hood, Julian Brock, and Carson Roccaforte who have combined to hit 29 homers and drive in 188 runs. The Longhorns also have a very potent offense that includes Peyton Powell, Dylan Campbell, Jared Thomas, Porter Brown, Garret Guillemette, and Eric Kennedy who have combined for 65 longballs and 281 RBI on the season.
Story by Chris Lessner/Photo is courtesy of UMaine Athletics
