LIVE STATS | VIDEO | UMBC BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT
BALTIMORE-- UMBC baseball will hit the road for the next two weeks with their first stop coming in Orono for a four-game set with Maine this weekend. The Retrievers head into the weekend at 6-3, 1-3 AE after dropping three straight to UMass Lowell last weekend. This is just the second time the Retrievers will be on the road this season.
Maine Series Info:
What: UMBC Retrievers (6-3, 1-3 AE) at Maine Black Bears (5-3, 0-0 AE)
Where: Mahaney Diamond - Orono, Maine
When: Saturday-Sunday, March 27-28 - Both days DH starting at Noon
How to Watch: Live stream on AmericaEast.TV, live stats at GoBlackBears.com
Social Media: @umbcbaseball, #RetrieverNation, #AEBASE
Scouting the Retrievers:
-The Retrievers come into the contest at 6-3, 1-3 AE after opening conference play against UMass Lowell last weekend. UMBC won the first game of the series behind a complete game from Reid Celata (Virginia Beach, Va.) before losing the next three.
-Ian Diaz (Philadelphia, Pa.) leads the team at the plate with a .522 batting average having played in all but one game this season. He is slugging 1.043 with three home runs and a team-best 12 hits. Eight different Retrievers have hit a home run with five hitting multiple home runs. Christian Torres (Miami, Fla.) leads the team with 14 RBI and Christian Easley (Collinsville, Va.) leading the way with nine stolen bases.
-Celata leads the rotation with a perfect 3-0 record in three starts. He has thrown 17.1 innings with one complete game, giving up just three runs with a 1.56 ERA.
Scouting the Black Bears:
-Maine comes into the weekend after having last weekend's games against Stony Brook canceled, and are 5-3 on the year. These will also be the first games for the Black Bears at Mahaney Diamond in 2021. Maine last played on March 14 at Wagner that resulted in a 12-3 win for the Black Bears.
-Connor Goodman leads the Black Bears at the dish with a .457 batting average and a 1.027 on-base percentage having played in all eight games. He has 16 hits with two doubles and five RBI. Jeff Mejia is hitting .357 with a team-best eight RBI and three stolen bases. Joe Bramanti and Quinn McDaniel are also over .300 batting .333 and .313 respectively.
-Nicholas Sinacola leads the pitching staff with a 1.42 ERA and a 2-0 record in two starts this year. He has thrown 12.2 innings with 23 strikeouts, giving up just two earned runs and scattering five hits.
All-Time Series:
-Maine and UMBC have met 60 times prior to this weekend with the Black Bears leading the series 44-16. Back in 2019, the Black Bears won two of three up in Orono. UMBC has had a strong showing the past couple of years, however, winning six of the last ten dating back to 2017, including a 2-1 win in the America East Championship in 2017.
Swiper Keep Swiping:
-Once again, the Retrievers are getting it done on the bases, already with 31 stolen bases with just one caught stealing. That mark has them first in the America East and near the top in the country. The Dawgs are just 20 stolen bases away from tying the tenth most in a single season. The most in a season came in 2015 when the Retrievers swiped 113 bags.
On Deck:
-The Retrievers will conclude their road swing with four games at UAlbany next weekend, April 3-4.
