The University of Maine baseball team gets set for their annual Southern swing to open up the 2019 baseball season this week when they travel to Tallahassee, Florida to face the Florida State Seminoles with the first game scheduled for Friday at 4 pm.
Maine who finished last season 20-34 and 12-12 in America East, making it to the third day of the America East baseball tournament, returns some key players who helped them in 2018. The first of those players is All-Conference third baseman in senior Danny Casals. Casals hit .304 last season, 14 homeruns, and 49 runs batted in. He also added a .597 slugging percentage and a .407 on base percentage as well, and had multi-hit games 17 times a year ago. Also returning is first baseman/outfielder Hernen Sardinas, catcher Cody Pasic, outfielder Kevin Doody, outfielder Colin Ridley, and infielder Caleb Kerbs. Sardinas, Pasic, Doody, Ridley, and Kerbs combined for 10 homers and 103 RBI in 2018.
Ace pitcher Justin Courtney also returns, almost a year after having his 2018 season cut short due to an elbow injury that forced him to have Tommy John surgery. The 6-5 225 pound Courtney, a former star at Bangor High School, allowed just 14 hits in 21 innings in four starts before the injury last season adding 26 strikeouts and opponents were hitting only .179 off the right hander who went 1-1 in those appearances. Nick Silva, Cody Laweryson, and Eddie Emerson will also return and see some starts on the mound. In the bullpen, the Black Bears return Matt Geoffrion, former Brewer High star Matt Pushard, and another former Bangor Ram and only lefty in the pen Trevor Delaite. The pitching staff combined had an earned run average of 5.88 last season with opponents hitting .271 off the Bears, striking out 395 batters in 448.1 innings. The problem was walks, as Maine allowed 281 free passes.
Maine was selected fourth in the preseason America East coaches poll, behind Hartford, Stony Brook, and UMass-Lowell. The remainder of the Southern road trip after the four games at Florida State include a three game series at Maryland, three games at Liberty, three games at Mississippi State, three games at Samford, and then single games at both Troy and Alabama. The Bears come back East on March 23rd when they travel to Binghamton for a doubleheader with the Bearcats to open up the America East schedule. Maine plays their home opener on April 6th when they welcome in UMBC to Mahaney Diamond.
