ORONO, Maine — University of Maine baseball players were excited before making their annual trip to Florida in March.
The Black Bears were looking forward to playing ball under the sun and palm trees, but they also were eager to find out their room assignments for the two-week stay.
The team rents condominiums for the trip, placing four or five players together in each unit. Many held out hope that they would be rooming with “goulash.”
Pitcher Logan Fullmer graduated May 15 from UMaine with a degree in food science and human nutrition. He took advantage of the Florida swing to put some of his studies into practice.
“We were so pumped when we got him,” freshman pitcher Nick Silva said of rooming with Fullmer. “He did all the cooking. The only thing we had to do in return was do the dishes.”
Fullmer also has developed a recipe for success on the mound for the Black Bears. He has blended a good mix of pitches, a healthy helping of experience and a critical splash of versatility while cooking up a strong season as the staff ace.
The right-hander takes a 4-2 record and a 2.71 earned run average Maine’s America East tourney opener against Stony Brook (New York) on Wednesday at LeLacheur Park in Lowell, Massachusetts.
“Every time he’s pitched this year, he’s given us a chance to win,” UMaine head coach Steve Trimper said.
“He’s very low key, even keel. He has physical tools, but he keeps his poise under pressure,” he added. “He really has done a good job managing a very high-level role.”
Fullmer has emerged as one of UMaine’s most effective and versatile pitchers during his career in Orono. Like a crock pot recipe, it took some time.
The 6-foot-1, 220-pounder from Lebanon, Pennsylvania, made 23 appearances, including seven starts, during his first two seasons. He posted a 5-2 record but allowed 73 hits in 55 innings.
Fullmer, whose fastball is 87-89 mph, lacked a consistent breaking pitch.
“Early in an at bat, you get two strikes on a batter and you didn’t really have the pitch to put him away,” said Fullmer, who worked mostly out of the bullpen but did make some starts.
He rediscovered the missing ingredient after talking with his stepfather, Robert Monk, and Cedar Crest High School assistant coach Brian Keaton. Both reminded him of the effective slider he had once thrown.
“I was like, I’ve got to try something because sophomore year really didn’t turn out too well,” said Fullmer, who benefitted from a summer season with the Worcester (Massachusetts) Bravehearts of the Futures Collegiate Baseball League.
In 2015, Fullmer and then-UMaine pitching coach J.P. Pyne opted to scrap the curveball in favor of the sharp-breaking slider. It has made a world of difference.
In two seasons since rediscovering the pitch, Fullmer has posted a 5-3 record with seven saves and a 3.07 earned run average. He has given up only 114 hits in 123 innings while piling up 118 strikeouts and only 26 walks.
Further work on mechanics has yielded a livelier fastball and a more effective slider.
“By stiffening out his left side, he elevates his release point,” Trimper said. “By doing that, he’s a little more downhill with his fastball and his slider really turned into a power slider.”
Trimper said Fullmer has embraced the concept of pitching inside to opposing batters, which helps make the slider more effective against right-handed hitters.
Fullmer has proven himself adaptable. Last season, he made 20 of his 21 appearances in relief and logged four saves as UMaine’s closer.
This spring, he served as the closer for his first seven outings. However, the youthful Black Bears were struggling to score runs consistently and didn’t face many tight, late-game situations.
Trimper made sure his most experienced pitcher wasn’t sitting around in the bullpen.
“I said, whatever it takes to help the team win, I’ll be here to do that,” said Fullmer, who has tried to maintain a similar approach to pitching, regardless whether he’s pitching one inning or nine.
“I just take it batter to batter and try to act like it’s the last out of the ninth inning and go at them as hard as I can,” he said.
Trimper marvels at how seamlessly Fullmer has gone from starter to closer and back to starter.
“It’s not easy. I think that takes a special person to do that,” he said.
Fullmer’s emergence as UMaine’s ace came at a key time as sophomore righty Justin Courtney of Bangor encountered some shoulder stiffness that kept him sidelined for nearly six weeks.
“You love those guys that even when they don’t have their great stuff, they not only want to stay in the game but they actually can still pitch and keep you in the game,” Trimper said.
Fullmer has embraced the pressure of being the No. 1 starter and has tried to set a poised tone for a staff that features several underclassmen.
“I try to have the demeanor that nothing bothers me and try to keep the same face,” he explained. “Anything negative, I try and store it away and go after the next pitch or the next batter and just keep the emotions in check.”
Silva not only enjoys Fullmer’s cooking but has paid attention to how the senior prepares, pitches and sets the tone for the staff.
“He’s been a big influence on me,” said Silva, who became the closer after Fullmer was moved into the rotation.
“I started picking up on the things that he used to do [as a closer] and I’m incorporating those before I pitch. He’s definitely a great kid to learn from.”
Fullmer said he acquired his passion for cooking from his maternal grandmother, Evelyn Spangler, and his mother, Melanie Monk.
“My grandma cooks a lot for the holidays and she passed it along to my mother, so I was always given really good food at home,” he said. “I always helped out mom in the kitchen back in middle school, high school. It’s good Pennsylvania Dutch food.”
Spangler often provides sweets and treats for the Black Bears.
Fullmer’s teammates have enjoyed his cooking, especially the goulash, which is why fellow pitcher Jeff Gelinas coined the nickname.
“It’s kind of like American chop suey: macaroni, hamburger, tomato sauce peppers, garlic, cheese,” said Fullmer, who hopes to get into food management at a restaurant or hotel.
“I’d like to own my own restaurant one day,” he said.
Regardless what Fullmer is cooking up, there is a reason it’s so delicious.
“The magic ingredient’s always love,” he quipped.