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Snowed out? Plenty of baseball games are delayed or postponed due to rain over the course of a season, but given that the players are often called the boys of summer, snow is not a typical concern.
But, that’s exactly what the University of Maine baseball team had to deal with Tuesday, with their home opener against Thomas College was postponed due to snow flurries. UMaine head coach Paul Kostacopoulos discussed the weather’s impact on the team last week.
“At the beginning of a season it takes a little while to get that continuity, especially in Maine, with the weather and the schedule,” said Kostacopolous, “20 or so games on the road, it starts to get to you. The more games you play, the better off you are.”
UMaine hit the road again on Wednesday, heading to Providence for a doubleheader with Brown. As of press time the results of the doubleheader were unavailable.
The Black Bears are hot, having won two out of three in a series against the Albany Great Danes. UMaine swept a doubleheader on Saturday, and narrowly missed the sweep Sunday when the Great Danes denied a ninth-inning comeback bid.
UMaine has now won nine of its last 11 games, improving its record to 15-9 this season. The Black Bears stand at 2-1, good for second place early in the America East conference schedule.
“We’re getting better, and we’re starting to get hot at the right time,” said Kostacopoulos.
Barring an unforeseen blizzard, the Black Bears will finally open Mahaney Diamond this weekend against the University of Maryland Baltimore County. The teams will play a double header starting at noon on Saturday, and finish with a single game Sunday, also starting at noon.
“It’s still relatively early, so we’re more focused on the University of Maine than the opponent. We just need to play good baseball and that’ll give us a chance to win,” said Kostacopoulos.
UMaine’s potent offense is led by freshman third baseman Curt Smith, who for the second time this season was named America East Rookie of the week on Monday. Smith had eight hits last weekend to go with three runs scored, two RBIs, and two stolen bases. Smith leads the team with a .386 batting average, ranking him third in the conference.
The Black Bears lead America East in team batting average, hitting .312.
Freshman speedster Joe Hough leads the conference in triples with three, and in stolen bases, snatching 15 bases so far this season.
“We’re really hitting the ball well, and it’s even better that some of those hits are starting to come in clutch situations,” said Kostacopoulos.
UMaine’s pitching also sits near the top of the conference statistics, ranking third with a 4.03 team ERA and .272 average against. Greg Creek and Steve Richard top the conference in wins, and Richard leads in the strikeouts with 48.
After UMBC, the Black Bears travel to the Heights to take on traditional rival Boston College.
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