Myckie Lugbauer and the Black Bears travel to Vermont this weekend.

May 8, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

The University of Maine baseball team travels to Vermont this weekend for an America East series with the Catamounts. These are crucial games for the Black Bears who are trying to climb in the America East standings. Maine is 18-23-1 on the season and 6-10 in America East play. Vermont is 21-20 on the season and 7-9 in America East play. The two teams will play doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 1:00 p.m. each day.

SCOUTING THE MAINE BLACK BEARS: Maine is led by Curt Smith (Willemstad, Curacao) who is hitting .395 on the season with a team-high 52 runs scored and 33 RBI. He has 12 doubles, 11 home runs and three triples to go along with 11 stolen bases. Smith has a .730 slugging percentage. Myckie Lugbauer (Mahopac, N.Y.) is hitting .361 with 33 runs scored and a team-high 38 RBI. He has a team-high 19 doubles, four home runs and two triples. Billy Cather (Worcester, Mass.) is hitting .337 with 31 runs scored and 25 RBI. He has seven doubles and leads the team in stolen bases with 14. Jarrett Lukas (Old Town, Maine) is hitting .336 with 18 runs scored and 25 RBI. He has five doubles and four home runs. Tony Patane (New Milford, Conn.) is chipping in with a .313 batting average with 36 runs scored and 32 RBI. He has 10 doubles, three triples and three home runs. Mark Ostrander (Hopkinton, Mass.) is hitting .306 with 11 runs scored and 12 RBI. He has five doubles and four home runs on the season. Kevin McAvoy (Brewer, Maine) is hitting .280 with 22 runs scored and 18 RBI. Joey Martin (Portland, Maine) is chipping in with a .272 batting average with 13 runs scored and 14 RBI. Kevin Jackson (Wappingers Falls. N.Y.) is hitting .271 with six runs scored and nine RBI. Danny Menendez (Miami, Fla.) has a .252 batting average with 25 runs scored and 18 RBI. He has 10 doubles, eight stolen bases and has drawn 23 walks on the season. Joe Mercurio (Brewster, N.Y.) is hitting .238 with 16 runs scored and 13 RBI.  The Maine pitching staff is led by Joe Miller (Valley Stream, N.Y.) who is 4-2 on the season with a 3.53 ERA. He has struck out 45 batters in 51.0 innings. Kevin Scanlan (Sudbury, Mass.) is 2-4 on the season with a 3.93 ERA. He leads the team in strikeouts with 62 on the season in 55.0 innings. Matt Jebb (Toronto, Ontario) is also 2-4 on the season. He has a 4.25 ERA and has struck out 59 batters on the campaign in 55.0 innings as well. Alejandro Balsinde (Miami, Fla.) is 2-5 with a 4.46 ERA, while Kyle Benoit (Brampton, Ontario) is 3-1 with a 5.81 ERA.

MAINE COACHING STAFF IN 2008: Maine head coach Steve Trimper (Eastern Connecticut State University '92) returns for his third season at the helm of the Black Bears. He has an overall record of 247-250-4 in his 10th season as a head coach. He has a record of 75-76-2 in his third season with the Black Bears. He is assisted by Jared Holowaty (Eastern Connecticut State University '02), Aaron Izaryk (Maine '05) and Mark Michaud (Eastern Connecticut State University '02).

SCOUTING THE VERMONT CATAMOUNTS: Vermont is 21-20 on the season and 7-9 in America East play. The Catamounts are led by Justin Milo who has a .338 batting average with a team-high 45 runs scored and 35 RBI. He has 12 doubles, a team-high eight triples and five home runs. He has stolen nine bases on the season. Ethan Paquette is hitting .338 on the season with 22 runs scored and 30 RBI. Matt Duffy is hitting .313 with 32 runs scored and 26 RBI. He has a team-high 16 doubles to go along with three home runs. Miguel Magrass is batting .312 with 33 runs scored and 35 RBI. He has nine doubles and five home runs. Mark Micowski has a .301 batting average with 35 runs scored and 17 RBI. He had nine doubles and leads the team in stolen bases with 16.  The pitching staff is led by Joe Serafin who is 5-3 on the season with a 2.83 ERA. He has struck out a team-high 42 batters in 54 innings pitched. Eric Thompson is 4-1 with a 4.66 ERA. Justin Albert is 3-4 with a 4.29 ERA in a team-high 56.2 innings. Keith Rakus is also 3-4 on the season. He has a 5.11 ERA.  Vermont is coached by Bill Currier (Vermont '84) who is in his 21st season. He has a record of 457-433. He is assisted by Anthony DeCicco, Keith Carter and Jim Farrell.

MAINE AND VERMONT ALL-TIME: Maine and Vermont have met 143 times with the Black Bears holding a 91-52 advantage in the series. Maine has won six of the last seven games in the series.

SMITH PLAYS IN 200TH CAREER GAME: Curt Smith played in his 200th career game on Sunday, April 27 against Stony Brook. He has currently seen action in 204 career games. Danny Menendez is second on the team with 148 career games played. The Maine record for career games played is 238 held by Mark Sweeney.

SMITH NEARING 50: Curt Smith has currently stolen 49 career bases, needing just one to reach the 50 plateau.

CATHER TIES STOLEN BASES RECORD: Billy Cather tied the Maine record for stolen bases in a game with three on Wednesday, April 16 at Coppin State. It is the 17th time in Maine history that a player has stolen three bases in a game. Cather leads Maine in stolen bases with 14.

CONSECUTIVE GAMES PLAYED: Curt Smith leads all Black Bears, having played in 79 consecutive games dating back to last season. Danny Menendez is second on the team as he has currently seen action in 59 consecutive games.

A GEM BY BALSINDE: In a must-win game, Alejandro Balsinde pitched one of the best games of his Maine career on Saturday, May 3. He pitched a complete seven inning game where he allowed just one run on five hits. He struck out five batters in the game. Balsinde retired the side in order in the first, third, fifth and seventh innings.

SMITH GOING DEEP: Curt Smith leads the team in home runs with 11. The 11 home runs are a career-high for Smith. It is the most home runs by a Maine player since Joe Drapeau hit 11 in 2003. Smith has 27 career home runs.