MAINE vs. ALBANY
Time, site: Friday (2), noon, Saturday, noon; Varsity Field, Albany, New York
Records: Maine 22-25 (8-9 America East), Albany 13-26 (6-11)
Series, last meeting: Maine leads 35-28, Albany 9-5 (10 inns.) on 3/29/15
Key players: Maine — 3B Luke Morrill (.365, 2 home runs, 27 runs batted in), CF Sam Balzano (.325, 18 RBI, 8 stolen bases), 2B Brett Chappell (.326, 2 HR, 36 RBI), LF Scott Heath (.311, 6 HR, 29 RBI), 1B Brenden Geary (.289, 3 HR, 19 RBI); Albany — SS Alex Lushkevich (.300, 1 HR, 12 RBI, 7 SB), RF Eric Mueller (.281, 21 RBI), 3B Matt Hinchy (.270, 1 HR, 20 RBI), 1B Shawn Blake (.269, 19 RBI), 2B Trevor DeMerritt (.262, 11 RBI, 8 SB)
Pitching matchups: Maine — RH Justin Courtney (4-5, 3.09 earned run average, 35 strikeouts), LH Scott Heath (5-3, 4.00, 55 K), RH Jacob Gosselin-Deschesnes (3-2, 3.02, 30K); Albany — LHP Brendan Ryan (1-5, 4.96, 20 K), RH Stephen Woods (3-5, 4.15, 47 K), RH Chris Sorgie (1-5, 6.40, 32 K)
Game notes: The Black Bears will close out the regular season needing one victory to secure a spot in next week’s America East playoffs. UMaine rose to the occasion last weekend with a three-game sweep of Binghamton, including a 7-0 shutout in the finale behind Gosselin-Deschesnes. The Bears lost 12-0 to Boston College on Tuesday, but have won six of their last nine AE contests. UAlbany has dropped five straight games and has lost 12 of its last 14. The Great Danes are battling to grab a playoff berth, but must get past either UMaine or Harford (8-11). Morrill, who leads the league in batting, is riding a 16-game hitting streak. He has overcome a nagging hamstring injury that limited him for a couple of weeks earlier in the season. While the Bears’ pitching has been thin this season, the Great Danes rank last in AE team earned run average at 6.48.