BALTIMORE - The UMBC baseball team (6-6) opens its 19th season of America East Conference competition as they host the Maine Black Bears (4-10) at Alumni Field this weekend. The games will be streamed on AmericaEast.tv.
 
PROBABLE PITCHING MATCH-UPS
 
Fri., 3 p.m. - Colin Fitzgerald (0-1, 7.50 ERA, 18.0 IP) vs. Luke Johnson (2-0, 3.18 ERA, 17.0 IP)
Sat. 2 p.m. -  Gianni Gambardella (2-1, 4.80 ERA, 15.0 IP) vs. Jayden Shertel (1-0, 3.07 ERA, 14.2 IP)
Sun., 1 p.m.-  Noah Lewis (0-1, 5.75 ERA) vs. Nick Remy (2-2, 7.94 ERA, 17.0 IP)
 
RETRIEVER NOTES 

• Despite the tough 8-7 loss at Maryland Eastern Shore on Wednesday, UMBC is 5-3 over the past eight games.
• The Retrievers have hit 29 doubles in 12 games and are ranked 48th nationally in doubles per game. They lead America East with a .289 batting average and 7.8 runs scored per game.
• A graduate student and a freshman are leading the way for the Retrievers. Graduate student OF Ian Diaz is hitting .439 with a robust 1.366 OPS through 12 games. He leads the America East Conference in OPS and is second in batting average.
• Freshman 1B Leewood Molessa is hitting .373 (sixth in America East) with 19 RBI in 12 contests. He leads the conference in RBI's per contest.  Molessa just earned America East Conference Rookie of the Week honors for games ending March 12. He slashed .467/.867/1.423 last week with a home run, 8 RBI's and 13 total bases.
• Junior Luke Trythall missed the first four games of the season, but has 9 hits in 20 at-bats since returning to the lineup.  

A GLANCE AT THE BLACK BEARS   

• Maine is 4-10 on the season, but snapped a four-game slide with a 15-8 victory over GW on Wednesday.
• The Black Bears have been in the area since March 10, playing Maryland three times last weekend and George Mason on Tuesday.
• Maine leads America East with 99 runs scored and is tied with NJIT for the top spot with 19 home runs. Against some very good competition, they have pitched to a 9.43 ERA.
• Sophomore 1B/DH Jeremiah Jenkins is tied for the conference lead with five long balls. He is hitting .333, tenth best in America East, but behind teammates IF Connor Goodman (.364) and IF Quinn McDaniel (.357).    

SERIES HISTORY

• Maine leads the all-time series, 45-16.The Black Bears swept a series at UMBC in 2022 and have won eight of the last ten meetings.

ALUMNI FIELD CONCESSIONS/UMBC BOOKSTORE

• The concession stands at the new Fan Amenities Building will be open all weekend. The UMBC Bookstore will be selling merchandise in the plaza area on Saturday.

UP NEXT 

• UMBC plays at Coppin State on Tuesday, March 21 before heading to UAlbany for an America East series versus the Great Danes next weekend.