It’s been a tough spring in Orono for the University of Maine baseball and softball teams. The Black Bear teams have combined for an overall record of 11-57 and a conference record of 5-21.
The Maine baseball team (8-26) is coming off being swept at home this past weekend, and were outscored in the three game series 35-14 in non-conference play by Rider University. The reigning America East Champs have been plagued by injuries to key players. Junior lefthander pitcher Caleb Leys and junior righty Colin Fitzgerald both were ruled for the season in the starting rotation before the campaign began. Leys (5-1 record in 2023) had Tommy John surgery, and Fitzgerald (6-2 in 2023) had hip surgery late last summer. Leys and Fitzgerald help lead the Black Bears to the conference title and an NCAA Tournament appearance a year ago. The pitching staff overall in this 2024 season has a 9.06 earned run average, giving up 316 runs (273 earned), 32 homeruns, and 248 walks. They’ve shown little improvement in America East action, allowing seven runs per contest in their 11 games with a 5.78 ERA. Sophomore righthander Gianni Gambardella continues to be one of the best pitchers on the staff, and he holds a 2-0 record in conference play with a 1.37 ERA (2-4 overall). Gambardella had a fantastic freshman year with a 6-3 mark overall on the hill and a 3.90 ERA. Graduate student and infielder/designated hitter Connor Goodman has also been lost for the year due to a knee injury during the course of this season. Goodman hit .311 with 47 RBI in 2023. Top hitters in junior Myles Sargent, senior Nick White, and sophomore Dean O’Neill are also currently battling injuries. Maine sits in sixth place in America East (4-7), with the top six of the seven teams making postseason which will be held at Binghamton University in Vestal, New York beginning on Wednesday, May 22. The Black Bears have four games in hand with first place Bryant and fifth place Binghamton, and three with fourth place UMass-Lowell. They have 12 conference games remaining, with nine of those at home. They are next in action in non-conference play on Tuesday and Wednesday trying to snap a six game losing streak in a home and home with Merrimack College, with both games beginning at 4 p.m. The contest Tuesday is at Mahaney Diamond, while Wednesday they’ll be in North Andover, Massachusetts.
The Maine softball team has continued to struggle. This season the Black Bears are just 3-32, and 1-14 in conference play. Other than the one win in America East over Bryant University on April 7, the only other victories came on March 1 over Delaware and a 16-1 win over Division III Saint Joseph’s College on April 3. They are currently on a seven game losing streak, and at one point had a losing streak of 16 before beating the D3 Monks. Katie Jo Moery leads the way overall and in conference action at the plate, as she is slashing .289 with 11 RBI and is the only one on the team hitting over .225 in conference play at .255 with six driven in. Just as the baseball team has struggled to pitch, these Black Bears have also done the same in the circle collectively with an 8.17 team ERA and 6.20 in America East. Maine has only 46 extra base hits in their 35 games, while giving up 86 including 29 of them in their 15 conference games thus far. The America East Tournament will be in Orono at the newly renovated Maine Softball facility starting on Wednesday, May 8. The Bears (1-14) sit in last place behind the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks (3-10), with a three game series coming up between the two teams April 27 and 28th in Massachusetts that’ll likely decide that final postseason spot. Since the last time Maine won the America East Title and appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2016, they have gone 91-209 since (not including the COVID year) and 39-78 in conference play. They’ve missed the postseason in three of the last four years. They’re back in action when they play a non-conference doubleheader at Holy Cross on Thursday, before finishing the regular season with a pair three game America East road sets at UMass-Lowell and at Albany.
Written by Chris Lessner
