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Although there are more than 20 games remaining on the University of Maine baseball schedule, it appears the squad has regained some of its early season promise and all it took was a date with a bunch of Golden Retrievers.
This past weekend, using textbook situational hitting and gritty pitching, UMaine swept away the University of Maryland Baltimore-County, as well as some of their recent struggles from both the mound and plate.
Friday the Black Bears will hope to continue to ride the sudden wave of momentum when they take on familiar foe New York Institute of Technology in a four game slate at the squad’s home away from home Husson College. With headliners Mike Powers, Greg Norton, Brad Hertlzer and A.J. Balsinde prepared to take the mound, the Black Bears are hoping to apply some of the new found baseball confidence they gained from the four- game win on the diamond.
“Most importantly, the weekend against UMBC taught us how to win a few different types of games,” said co-captain Matt McGraw. “We had to win by coming back, holding on to a tight lead and by scoring runs late in the game; three types of games we hadn’t been able to win up until this point.”
The sweep couldn’t have come at a better time for the Black Bears, who had previously lost 16 of their last 17 and eight in a row. As the team continued to flounder, UMaine took to the series – moved to Mansfield, Conn. due to bad weathr in Orono – with a desire to refocus itself before the season slipped away.
“This weekend really was a springboard for us,” said leadoff man Billy Cather. “We knew we needed to regain our confidence and now we’re feeling great. We’re going into this series on a high.”
At the same time, it’s hard for the Black Bears not to admit to the changes in atmosphere.
“There’s no question that we needed this sweep; we’ve needed something to build on for some time,” said UMaine manager Stephen Trimper. “We’ve been looking at finding some consistancy and getting back into a groove.”
“This is certainly an air of confidence we haven’t had for a few weekends, but more importantly it showed us we could win again,” said McGraw.
Throughout the four games, which saw the Black Bears post victories of 8-1, 3-1, 7-6 and 12-1, a much-improved pitching staff managed to make several strides in the right direction after a horrid previous weekend against typically cellar-dwelling Stony Brook.
“The pitching staff controlled the walks in this weekend, which in my opinion is the most important thing they needed to do,” said McGraw. “As a pitcher you don’t necessarily improve week to week. That’s why the most important factor is controlling your pitches and cutting down walks.”
To keep those noticeable improvements going, the Black Bears are eager to take the NYIT decisions day-by-day no matter how clich� it sounds.
If this past weekend proved anything, it’s that the defense is starting to steel itself.
“I think it’s a sign that after a few weeks of a lot of defensive changes, our team is starting to feel comfortable with our newly defined roles,” said McGraw.
Currently anchoring the now- moving Black Bear engine are sophomore second baseman Danny Menendez and Myckie Lugbauer who each received America East Player of the Week accolades. Menendez was named Player of the Week, while Lugbauer earned Rookie of the Week honors for the third time this year. Over the weekend, Menendez hit .727 – 8-for-11 from the plate – while crossing the plate five times and smacking in four RBIs. Raising his batting average 66 points, Menendez was one of the main bright spots on the trip. As for Lugbauer, he hit .455 and brought home three RBI. Lugbauer was moved from his usual position of catcher to DH on Saturday due to a limiting injury.
The four-game series against NYIT kicks off on Friday at 7 p.m.
“It’s a great chance to control their top hitters, score runs on a good staff and beat down a team who compares well with our conference quality,” said McGraw.
Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 1 p.m and the series capper goes off on Sunday at 4 p.m.
