MAINE vs. MARYLAND BALTIMORE COUNTY
Time, site: Saturday (2), noon; Sunday, noon; Alumni Field, Baltimore, Maryland
Records: Maine 14-20 (4-7 America East), UMBC 16-15 (5-7)
Series, last meeting: Maine leads 39-7, UMBC 2-1 (12 inns.) on 5/18/14
Key players: Maine — CF Sam Balzano (.354, 12 runs batted in, 7 stolen bases), 3B Luke Morrill (.348, 1 home run, 19 RBI), 2B Brett Chappell (.325, 1 HR, 28 RBI), 1B Brenden Geary (.282, 1 HR, 10 RBI), LF Scott Heath (.271, 2 HR, 20 RBI); UMBC — LF Nick Naumann (.330, 1 HR, 19 RBI, 6 SB), C Hunter Dolshun (.304, 1 HR, 18 RBI), CF Andrew Casali (.297, 1 HR, 21 RBI, 7 SB), 2B Vince Corbi (.275, 1 HR, 25 RBI, 6 SB), 1B Anthony Gatto (.253, 3 HR, 12 RBI, 17 SB)
Pitching matchups: Maine — LH Scott Heath (3-3, 4.39 earned run average, 34 strikeouts), RH Justin Courtney (2-4, 3.53, 22 K), RH Jacob Gosselin-Deschesnes (2-1, 2.65, 20 K); UMBC — LH Joe Vanderplas (2-4, 4.32, 29 K), RH Conrad Wozniak (1-1, 1.28, 35 K), RH Matt Chanin (3-1, 2.55, 28 K)
Game notes: The Black Bears look to build on their 2-1 series win against Hartford with three important conference road games against the Retrievers. Maine remains in seventh place, but with a sweep would surge past UMBC and Binghamton, which has an AE bye weekend. UMBC has lost five of its last seven, including two of three to UMass Lowell last weekend. At .237, the Retrievers are only slightly more anemic than the Bears (.244) in league play, but UMBC has stolen 25 bases in 31 attempts. Strong-armed catcher Jon Salcedo could help slow down the Retrievers. Gosselin-Deschesnes stays in a starting role after a strong effort last Sunday, but UMaine needs to boost its offensive production with a few more key hits and a continued emphasis on aggressiveness on the basepaths.