There was plenty the University of Maine baseball team needed to work on during its two-week Florida swing.
The Black Bears have shown glimpses of success in all phases, but they continue to work through some struggles heading into their final three games.
UMaine, which stopped a four-game skid on Wednesday, was 5-12 heading into Friday’s game against the University of Massachusetts.
“We’ve really been kind of up and down, very inconsistent, on the trip,” said head coach Steve Trimper.
“We’re getting worn down, so we just took the day off [on Thursday],” he said. “The trip’s a grind. You don’t realize it until you get on it.”
UMaine has discovered that some of its newcomers are likely to be key pieces of the puzzle. Freshman infielder Danny Casals leads the regulars with a .317 batting average, although the ballclub has posted a lackluster .248 team batting average while scoring only 4.1 runs per contest.
Other top hitters early include senior catcher Kevin Stypulkowski (.308), junior outfielder Tyler Schwanz (.303, three home runs, 12 runs batted in), senior outfielder Brett Chappell (.277-2-10) and freshman outfielder Colin Ridley (.282-2-11).
“Our offense has done a really good job of getting on base, but we are just not driving runs in,” Trimper said.
“Because we’re not getting those, it has put a lot of pressure on our pitching and defense to be stellar,” he added.
The Black Bears are 3-5 in games decided by two runs or fewer.
Bangor sophomore Justin Courtney has headed a pitching staff that remains in flux. The right-hander is 1-2 with a 1.44 earned run average after taking on the likes of Clemson, Miami and New Mexico State.
“Justin has done a great job. He’s really taken a jump from his freshman year,” Trimper said.
UMaine’s other solid performers have been sophomores Jonah Normandeau of Cumberland (0-1, 3.66) and John Arel (0-2, 4.74), along with senior setup man Charlie Butler (1-2, 3.97) and senior closer Logan Fullmer (0-1, 4.50, 3 saves).
Sophomore Connor Johnson (1-0, 5.91) and freshmen Nick Silva (1-0, 6.14), Eddie Emerson of Lewiston (1-1, 5.87) and Chris Murphy (0-1, 9.58) have shown flashes of being able to contribute.
“You’re going to use six to eight pitchers, maybe even nine, as the season goes on,” said Trimper, who has used some of the younger pitchers in some tight spots.
“They’ve been in a lot of high-stress situations,” he said. “Sometimes they’ve come in and done a good job and sometimes they haven’t.”
UMaine has a 5.43 team ERA that has been stoked in part by their propensity to walk batters (4.1 per game) and hit some (1.6 per game). That is a trend Trimper said cannot continue, especially given the lack of consistent offensive production thus far.
UMaine is eight days away from its home-opening America East series against Binghamton.
“It’s a fun team to coach because there’s a lot of ceiling there,” Trimper said.