With the 133rd overall pick, the Packers selected the 5-foot, 11-inch, 200 pound with their fifth pick of the draft. It’s the highest a UMaine football player has ever been drafted, according to head coach Jack Cosgrove.

McMillian was second on the Black Bears with 92 tackles last season to go along with 11.5 tackles for loss. He added three and a half sacks, one interception and five passes deflected.

McMillian was a College Sporting News All-American Honorable Mention in 2011, when the Black Bears went 9-4, finishing the season ranked No. 8 in the country.

For the women’s team, freshman thrower Robyn McFetters picked up first place in the hammer throw after a toss of 185 feet, 10 inches, qualifying her for the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference Championships.

Her throw breaks the previous school record set by Rebecca Even in 2009 when she recorded a distance of 175 feet, 2 inches in the hammer throw.

On the men’s side, junior thrower Justin Gagne broke his week-old record-breaker in discus with a throw of 174 feet, 10 inches, picking up first place. Last week at the University of New Hampshire Wildcat Invitational, Gagne threw the discus 166 feet, 9 inches, breaking a school record set by Alan Sherrard in 1979.

Gagne also picked up a victory in the shot put with a toss of 52 feet, 10.25 inches, good enough for a top-five throw in school history. But Gagne wasn’t satisfied with his shot put performance, which preceded his discus toss.

“Right before, I didn’t do as well in the shot as I would have liked,” he said. “After I just hung around with my teammates and joked around before I got into the circle and tried to stay calm and level-headed. Finally, when it was time for me to go, I walked up and was focused and knew what I had to do. I was able to focus on my technique and I got a good throw out of it.”

Gagne doesn’t credit anything specific to his record-breaking stretch, other than focusing every detail on just one good throw.

“Not much [changed]. We’ve just been doing what we’ve been doing,” Gagne said, “just putting it all together on one throw and [making] everything click.”

A lack of competition at Holy Cross prevented Gagne from mustering more on his shot put throw. Regardless, it was still worth a first-place finish.

“It didn’t turn out as well as I wanted to,” Gagne said. “There wasn’t as much competition as we would have liked and it’s hard to push yourself.”

The men’s team fared well in the hammer throw as well, with junior Ethan Moore and sophomore Wilson Adams finishing first and second, respectively, while both throwing for distances good enough for top-five in program history.

Sophomore Nathaniel Meade won the triple jump, leading 46 feet, 11.5 inches, good for a top-five mark in UMaine history. Meade was runner-up in the long jump.

Junior Taylor Phillips won the steeplechase with a time of 9 minutes, 22.78 seconds, a top seven mark in program history.

The Black Bears finished with 206 points, beating out Stonehill College, Bryant University, Holy Cross, Central Connecticut State University and Hartford University.

On the women’s side, senior Corey Conner also broke a school record in the 1500-meter with a time 4:27.00, besting her own time by a tenth of a second.

Senior Katy Grime took first overall in the discus with a toss of 132 feet, 6 inches, which was good for a top-three throw in UMaine history.

Sophomore Allison Fereshetian won the 100-meter hurdles, finishing in 14.48 seconds, good for a top-five school mark.

Freshman Carolyn Stocker won the 5000-meter with a time of 17:47.41.

The women’s team finished fourth out of seven teams, with Holy Cross, the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Hartford finishing ahead of them.

The Seawolves took a 1-0 lead two innings into the first game of the series after some small-ball moved sophomore second baseman Jessica Combs into scoring position. A single to third by senior right fielder Suzanne Karath plated Combs.

The Black Bears were able to sprinkle a few hits throughout the opening innings off freshman pitcher Allison Cukrov but couldn’t tie any together.

UMaine had a chance to get back into the game in the sixth inning after a couple of errors by Stony Brook helped load the bases, but sophomore center fielder Kylie Sparks struck out to end the inning.

The Seawolves put the game away in the bottom of the sixth inning, getting two runners in scoring position before Combs doubled to right-center field, putting Stony Brook up 3-0.

UMaine senior pitcher Ashley Kelley went five and one-third innings pitched, giving up seven hits and three runs while striking out one. Cukrov surrendered just three hits in seven innings.

With Cukrov on the mound in the second game, the Black Bears still didn’t fare well, falling 1-0 in a tight contest.

The lone run came in the bottom of the first inning, when Karath reached on a bunt single. Senior center fielder Alyssa Hawley would single, moving Karath to second. After stealing third, Karath would score after an error by UMaine sophomore left fielder Dagmar Ralphs.

UMaine junior pitcher Beth Spoehr picked up the loss, going six innings, allowing six hits and one run. Cukrov picked up her 20th win of the season, pitching a complete game shutout, giving up six hits.

In the series finale, the Black Bears and Seawolves had to play for a draw after the game was called in extra innings due to rain at 1-1.

UMaine senior shortstop Jennifer Eberhardt got the Black Bears going right away, putting one over the fence in the top of the first inning. It would be one of just four UMaine hits on the day.

Stony Brook got the run back in the bottom of the second after sophomore first baseman Nicole Hagerty doubled. Freshman designated hitter Lauren Kamachi drove Hagerty in during the next at bat with a single up the middle.

Kelley went seven innings, giving up eight hits, one run and one walk while striking out one. Stony Brook sophomore pitcher Christine Lucido went the first three innings, giving up two hits, one run and a walk. Cukrov finished the game, allowing two hits.

The Black Bears fall to 11-26-1 on the season and will host Saint Joseph’s College on Wednesday before a weekend series against the University of Maryland Baltimore County in Orono.

The MLB defines a perfect game as essentially allowing no batter to get on base under any circumstance for a minimum of nine innings — or, in the case of a 0-0 tie going into extra innings, continuing the flawlessness until the favored team can take the lead. Both no-hitters and shutouts share many characteristics with a perfect game only because a pitcher actually encompasses both feats with the completion of a perfect game.

Of all 21 perfect games the league has seen in its extensive history, none has ever gone longer than nine innings — thus, every pitcher saw just 27 batters enter the batter’s box. In 1959, three-time All-Star and then Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Harvey Haddix brought a perfect game into the 12th inning against the Milwaukee Braves. His opposing pitcher, 1957 World Series MVP pitcher Lew Burdette, was also amidst a shutout attempt, hence a 0-0 tie that garnered for extra-inning play.

In possibly one of the greatest pitching performances the game has ever seen, Haddix lost his perfect game, and consequently the game itself, after a fielding error by his third baseman, Don Hoak, in the bottom of the 13th.

Two years ago, on June 2, Venezuelan right-hander and then Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was robbed of a perfect game by first-base umpire Jim Joyce after effectively pitching lights-out for 8 and 2/3 innings. After a routine infield ground ball hit to first base by Cleveland Indians rookie shortstop Jason Donald, which resulted in a close play at first, Joyce called Donald safe, despite ensuing replays that clearly showed the base runner should have been called out.

In 10 different instances, the MLB has seen what would have been a perfect game spoiled by the 27th and final batter of the game.

Both Haddix’s and Galarraga’s stories are prime examples of how amazingly difficult and practically luck-demanding completing a perfect game truly is.

When looking at all 21 pitchers who have successfully pitched perfect games, it’s not surprising to see names like Cy Young, Addie Joss, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Randy Johnson and Roy Halladay on the list. There are, however, some names that just don’t seem to fit.

Former White Sox pitcher Charlie Robertson pitched baseball’s fifth perfect game on April 30, 1992, in a 2-0 win over Detroit. Robertson will probably go down as one of the worst players to ever pitch a perfect game. His career earned run average was a disastrous 4.44 and overall record was 49-80.

Oakland Athletics pitcher Dallas Braden combined with Philadelphia Phillies ace Halladay for two perfect games pitched in the same season of 2010 — an occurrence the league has only seen one other time back in 1880 when Lee Richmond and John Montgomery Ward both pitched the league’s first two. Braden hasn’t seen much luck ever since. He is currently dealing with injuries and stands with a career record of 26-36 with an earned run average over four.

Perhaps the most famous pitcher known for his perfect game is former New York Yankees pitcher Don Larsen, who pitched the league’s one and only perfect game in postseason history in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, which evidently led to a Yankees victory and his selection as the World Series MVP of that year.

Larsen would become a journeyman after leaving New York in 1959, playing for six other teams and finishing his career with a losing record of 81-91.

I guess my point is, most of the time, perfection can’t be predicted. It takes a great deal of skill to be able to retire 27 or more consecutive batters, but at the same time, a profusion of luck. When the right things click and a pitcher is feeling it, there’s always the slim chance they might do something remarkable, and that’s exactly what we saw last weekend with Humber.

Almost every person I’ve talked to about this topic in the past few days has stopped the conversation, took out a computer and said “show me” before the conversation could move on. Sometimes the other person would just leave the room in disbelief, throwing their hands in the air and stomping off like they couldn’t believe what they just saw.

Is what baffles people the fact that the Pacers have had a massive turnaround so quickly, after having finished in either eighth, ninth and 10th place the last few years, or that they don’t have a superstar? In any case, they are third and they may cause some damage in the playoffs this year.

Unless you are a hardcore NBA fan or remember a couple of players’ glory days in college, you probably haven’t heard a lot of the names on Indiana’s roster. The most recognizable name might be forward Tyler Hansbrough, who won a national championship with the University of North Carolina in 2009. Center Roy Hibbert was a brute during his time at Georgetown, and point guard Darren Collison played out his college ball days at UCLA.

But what about forward Paul George from Fresno State University, or Dahntay Jones from Duke University? I had to do a player profile search on NBA.com to find out what those guys have done in their careers.

This team is drawing comparisons to the 2003-04 Detroit Pistons. I agree on the front that the two teams definitely play better together rather than depending on one individual, but Detroit has had a couple of star players in Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace. But if this year’s Indiana team can copy the Pistons’ team-play style, it could be a very scary thing for teams that are pumped full of superstars, like the Miami Heat or the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Pacers are very balanced in terms of playing time and scoring. All but three players on their 15-man roster average at least 12 minutes per game, with the highest time being forward Danny Granger’s 33 minutes per game.

Points are spread evenly as well, with all but one player with at least 58 games played averaging 9.3 to 13 points per game. Granger is the leader with 18.7 points per game. One pertinent statistic I see as important is the assist-to-turnover ratio, which can be compared to the touchdown-to-interception ratio for an NFL quarterback. The Pacers have a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, with Collison sporting a 2.6.

However, even with these well-balanced statistical lines, watching these guys play as a team and seeing how they’ve reacted to adversity has been the most impressive characteristic. In February, they went on a five-game losing streak but responded with a six-game winning streak. They went 8-9 in the month of March but have only lost twice since March 31.

They have won 11 out of their last 13 games and seem to be firing on all cylinders at the right time of the year.

If you catch a Pacers game and you still can’t believe they are as high up in the Eastern Conference as they are, watch for a few minutes. This may very well be the team that takes out a couple of higher-profile teams in the playoffs.

A decent-sized crowd cheered on the team and grew steadily throughout the evening.

“With it being the first home [game] we’ve had, to get a turnout like this [was appreciated],” said UMaine junior goalie Cullen Finn. “The fans were great. It was nice playing on this field instead of just looking at it. It’s the only home game we have, so it’s good to come up with the win.”

UMaine looked sharp from the start. Senior defenseman Collin Spillane got the offense going with the first goal to put the Black Bears up 1-0. Another goal by junior attacker Ralph Nelson put UMaine up 2-0.

Eduardo Rentas of Central Connecticut was the first to put one by Finn, who stopped a number of shots prior to the goal. That was one of Rentas’ four goals.

Central Connecticut tied the game up at 2-2 before Black Bear senior attacker Cullen O’Neil put them back up 3-2.

Finn stopped save after save, but Rentas managed to get another one past him, tying the game up at 3-3. The Black Bears owned the rest of the second quarter. UMaine junior attacker John Tarnuzzer scored two goals in a row to put the Black Bears up 5-3.

Later, UMaine sophomore midfielder Tim Grose netted a goal and sophomore attacker Chris Smith scored one after some shifty moves to put the Black Bears up 7-3.

UMaine had some defensive breakdowns, allowing Central Connecticut to cut the lead to 7-5. Another Central Connecticut goal came from Hoang Vu, his second of the game, to cut the Blue Devils’ deficit to just one.

The rest of the game featured more offense with back-and-forth goals from both UMaine and Central Connecticut. Junior midfielder Chris Bagley and junior midfielder Steve Woodcock scored two for the Black Bears and Tarnuzzer put in his third goal of the night as well.

“I felt pretty good. I just went out there and just played,” Tarnuzzer said.

Rentas put in two more for Central Connecticut for his third and fourth goals. Despite the offensive play of Rentas and Vu, the Black Bears proved to be too much for the Blue Devils.

Bagley and Grose put in two more for the Black Bears during the fourth quarter. With the score at 13-10, Nelson put in his second and final goal of the game.

Finn had 28 stops for UMaine, saving over 70 percent of the shots he faced. Central Connecticut goalie Dylan Waitkus saved only 13 shots — less than he let in. The blame shouldn’t be put all on Waitkus but rather credit should be given to Black Bears offense for producing like it did.

“Our offense kept us in this,” Finn said. “We had a couple defensive lapses where we let them back in the game. But their goalie saw a lot of shots.”

This win will likely give the Black Bears a playoff berth. Their scheduled conference game on Saturday resulted in a forfeit for the University of New Haven, which also contributed to a chance at the playoffs. These wins put them at 4-4, 2-1 in their conference.

Looking forward, the club lacrosse team hopes this was just the first of more home games to come. “It was great to be home,” Tarnuzzer said. “It was nice to play for our home fans for once. It feels great to get a playoff berth. It’s a good way for us to get back into it.”

The Black Bears will play the U.S. Coast Guard Academy on April 27 and Bridgewater State College on April 28 to end the regular season.

As I stated in Monday’s issue of The Maine Campus, the New York Rangers were issued one of the league’s two No. 1-seed rankings entering this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs.

After an impressive year that saw the team tie with Pittsburgh for the conference’s best record at 51 wins and also collect its first divisional title in eight years — despite ending its season on a two-game losing streak with losses against both the Penguins and the Washington Capitals — the Rangers bring a notably solid lineup to this year’s battle for the Stanley Cup.

In front of the net for the Rangers stands six-time team MVP Henrik Lundqvist, who, along with Phoenix Coyotes goalie Mike Smith, led all eligible NHL goalies in save percentage, stopping just over 90 percent of all shots.

On the offensive side, New York is led by 2012 All-Star Game MVP forward Marian Gaborik, who was the league’s third-best scorer with 41 goals, behind only Evgeni Malkin of Pittsburgh and Steven Stamkos of Tampa Bay.

The No. 8 Senators finished the 2011-12 season with the NHL’s fourth-best overall goals per game average, scoring just under three per game.

Canadian forward Jason Spezza and 21-year-old defenseman Erik Karlsson are both coming off phenomenal seasons after combining for 162 points and representing the Ottawa Senators twice within the league’s top 10 assist leaders, with 50 and 59, respectively.

If the Rangers continue to let Ottawa out-shoot them in this first-round quarterfinal series, the two teams just might be playing a future Game 7. Putting shots on goal is key for New York because it is one statistic that sets them apart from any other team — during the regular season, the Rangers were the league’s best in winning percentage when out-shooting their opponents, winning just over 68 percent of the time. If shots on goal increase, I see the Rangers taking this series in six games.

As for the defending Stanley Cup champions and No. 2-seeded Bruins, the Capitals haven’t been the pushovers Boston might have wished for entering this year’s postseason. No. 7 Washington lost their starting goalie Tomas Vokoun to a groin injury in a game against Boston on March 29, and six days later, their backup Michal Neuvirth suffered an injury to his left leg, leaving the Capitals with their last resort: 22-year-old third-string goalie Braden Holtby, who posted a record of 10-2-2 in 14 games last year in his first NHL season. So far, Holtby has been respectably decent in net.

Despite his recent slide in overall dominance in the past couple of seasons, two-time Hart Memorial Trophy winner Alexander Ovechkin is still an obvious threat after finishing the regular season as the NHL’s fifth-best scorer, and for Boston to close out this series and move closer toward reclaiming their title, they need to shut Ovechkin out — especially on the Capitals’ power-play opportunities.

The key for Boston is to keep centers Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin, captain defender Zdeno Chara and forwards Chris Kelly and Brad Marchand on the ice as much as possible. All five players combined to be the top-five league leaders in plus-minus player goal differential, ranging in that order from +36 to +31.

Goalie Tim Thomas is coming off a phenomenal season in which he was awarded the Vezina Trophy, the Roger Crozier Saving Grace Award and the Conn Smythe Trophy. The 38-year-old continued with a concrete season this year, ranking fifth among all goalies in wins.

In order to get past Washington, Boston will need to capitalize on their strongest areas of play. The Bruins had the highest winning percentage among all NHL teams during the regular season when scoring first with just over 81 percent, and they had an even higher league-leading winning percentage when leading after the first period with 92 percent. In games with a lead after two periods, the Bruins were undefeated.

I simply cannot see the Capitols getting past Boston, unless they can somehow begin to pour shots over Thomas — and even if this happens, the Bruins had the league’s highest winning percentage when being out-shot.

Thomas may be sidetracked from various Obama faces amidst Washington’s spirited crowd, but his team will pick up wherever he might leave off. This series will go five games with the Bruins moving on.

The Florida Panthers entered this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs after capturing the franchise’s first divisional title in its 19-year existence at the end of the regular season. With no skaters among the league’s top-30 in both goals and points, it’s interesting to ponder how Florida went 38-26 during the 2011-12 regular season.

Much of the No. 3 Panthers’ sudden success can probably be attributed to the overhauling of the team with a new general manager and head coach, which has certainly helped journeyman goalie Jose Theodore regain his form after the 35-year-old posted his best save percentage in eight years.

The New Jersey Devils, despite finishing 10 wins above the Panthers, were given the No. 6 seed after finishing fourth in the Atlantic division — by far the NHL’s best region, with four team’s finishing over 102 points.

Don’t expect Florida to capitalize on many power plays. The Devils have one of the league’s top defenses, allowing only 27 shots per game over the regular season, and had the league’s best penalty kill percentage of all teams with just under 90 percent.

With the formidable support that forward Ilya Kovalchuk consistently brings to the ice and 39-year-old veteran goalie Martin Brodeur’s 23 years of experience, the Devils should be able to dismount the Panthers from their statistically improbable rank and move on to the second round.

The Pittsburgh-Philadelphia series looked to be a heated matchup before the playoffs began, especially because of the teams’ rivalry and proximity in both actual location and Atlantic Division final standings, but it quickly became lopsided after No. 5 Philadelphia opened up with a barrage of offense, scoring 21 goals in the first three games.

The Penguins fired back in Game 4, scoring 10 goals en route to their first win of the series and extending their season, at least for another day.

One of the Flyers’ assumed main targets entering this series was shutting out Hart Memorial Trophy favorite Malkin, which they’ve done successfully — despite dishing out four assists, the league’s second-best scorer didn’t find the net in the first three games of the series before scoring two in the Game 4 rout.

Regardless, I don’t see the Penguins lasting another game.

The club lacrosse squad has come a long way since being kicked from the league in 2008 for “bad leadership.” The former president of the club didn’t do what he needed to do with scheduling. Now, the team is only a few wins away from a playoff berth.

“It’s great to be back, the program’s in full swing,” said Ralph Nelson, the team’s current president.

“It feels good to be back,” said Collin Spillane, the team’s treasurer. “My freshman year we got booted from the league, my sophomore year we didn’t have a season, and my junior year we got back into the league with just scrimmages only. So it’s good to have official games now.”

Nelson and Spillane have been working on getting the club back to where it was before they were removed from the league. They took the initiative to get the program back to where it needs to be.

“When the team got kicked out of the league, we were in a tough spot,” Nelson said. “I just tried to rally 20 to 30 guys who wanted to play lacrosse and keep the team going.”

“After my sophomore year, me and Ralph got together and said, ‘We got to turn this team around,’ which led to us getting back in the league playing in scrimmages my junior year,” Spillane said.

Although last year the team could only schedule scrimmages, they went a long way in preparing them for this year.

“We ended up going 4-2 in conference play last year and although it was just scrimmages, we still made a lot of noise by beating some good teams and showing them we can play,” Spillane said.

“We showed that we’re committed and confident and it definitely helped us to get back where we needed to be this year,” Nelson said.

The team has also played Division I club teams such as Boston College and the University of Connecticut this year, losing to both. The Eagles were third in the nation at the time. The outcomes may not have been ideal, but being able to play such high-caliber teams will help the Black Bears in the long run.

“We’ve had a hard schedule,” Nelson said. “Playing D-I teams can be hard since they’re playing teams all over the country. They were character-building games. They had 40-plus people on their sidelines and are definitely at a spot where we’d like to be in the future.”

Although the team is only 2-4 on the season, they’re 1-1 in Pioneer Collegiate Lacrosse League, and a win in Friday’s conference game against Central Connecticut would be huge for the team in their hunt for a playoff spot.

“We’ve been away all year but it feels good to finally be able to get a home game,” Spillane said. “No one wants to come three hours up to Maine to play an uncompetitive team, so it’s good that teams want to come play now.”

The team’s only loss in conference play came at the hands of Stonehill College in a 12-11 overtime thriller. Their win in conference play came against Worcester Polytechnical Institute in a decisive 14-8 victory.

With wins in their final two conference games, one on Friday and one on April 28 against Bridgewater State University, the Black Bears could find themselves in the playoffs.

“Our closest league competitor is five and a half hours of travel,” Spillane said, “so it’s nice to have the football field and be able to practice on it and take advantage of the facilities offered here.”

Another important aspect of the team being home is the growth of the sport itself. Lacrosse isn’t very popular in Maine compared to other sports, being more prevalent out of state. But Nelson, Spillane and the rest of the team are looking to change all that.

“Lacrosse is barely at high schools around here,” Spillane said. “So I think it’s great to have a home game to help spread the sport and show that we can compete with these out-of-state teams. It’s great for the state and the university and allows younger kids to see the sport played at a high level.”

The club lacrosse team’s coach, Tim Taylor — who also owns the Old Town bar Kingman’s — has been a huge part in reviving the team, despite having his own job and working for free.

“Coach Taylor has a full-time job yet still puts in a full-time commitment to the team,” Nelson said. “He volunteers and understands that the club has other financial obligations and still puts his all into the team.”

Goalie Cullen Finn has also been keeping the team together, owning the best save percentage in the conference and 11th in all of Division II.

“He’s the catalyst for our defense,” Nelson said. “He played in New York and it’s a different game there. There’s been times when we probably should have lost by more or won by less but didn’t because of him.”

With the leadership of Nelson and Spillane and the commitment of Taylor and Finn, there’s no reason why this team can’t earn a playoff spot this year. It would be a big step up from years’ past. Playing at home will help the team in their games as well as in getting their names out there locally.

The club lacrosse team plays this Friday against Central Connecticut and Saturday against New Haven, both at 7 p.m. at Morse Field.

Junior thrower Justin Gagne was responsible for both of them, setting the marks in the shot put and the discus. With throws of 55 feet, 8.25 inches in the shot put and 166 feet, 9 inches in the discus, Gagne placed himself in the record books. The throws were also good enough for second and first place in the meet, respectively.

“It was a good weekend,” Gagne said. “I got a lot of help from my teammates and coaches to get me there.”

Gagne credits practice and repetition for his success this season.

“Practice is the most important thing, of course,” he said. “I do one event per day, usually. It’s mostly a lot of practice and watching videos.

“Deep down inside, you always think you have it in you, but it didn’t really start clicking until this winter,” he added. “I’ve always wanted to, but I don’t think I started getting better at this sport until last summer or this winter.”

Gagne also attributes his success to his coaches and role models.

“My coaches are wicked smart — coach Gerhard [Skall, assistant field event coach] is a genius,” Gagne said. “He was a decathlete; he knows every event as well. If he doesn’t know something, he will tell you straight up he doesn’t know it. He’s the kind of person you like to be with.”

A fan of every event in track and field, Gagne is looking forward to the Summer Olympics, where he’ll be able to watch his role model shot putter Adam Nelson compete for gold. When asked if he will be watching the world’s athletes compete in London this summer, he didn’t hesitate with his answer.

“Oh, of course,” Gagne said. “Every event. I’m one of those weird people who enjoys track and I can watch the races and everything.”

Even the 25-lap 10K?

“Yeah, I probably won’t watch the 10K, let’s be honest here,” he said. “But I can watch most anything, though.”

Gagne still has a couple more years at the UMaine and hopes to continue to compete at a high level during his time here, and perhaps even further into the future.

“I’m still a junior, and I have an extra year from a red shirt, so I’ll be here for two more years,” he said. “Hopefully if I can continue to do a lot better; I’d love to go above and beyond and continue competing, but that’s a little ways down the road right now.”

If throwing doesn’t work out, Gagne has a plan for that future as well.

“I’m an economics major and history minor,” he said. “I’d like to go into banking, just keep it simple.”

Gagne and the rest of the track team attribute their success to setting personal goals.

“One thing we talk about a lot is goal-setting. We have three goals: an attainable goal, work-hard goal and a lifetime goal,” Gagne said.

“My goal right now is to make it to regionals in the eastern half of the U.S.,” he said. “Right now I’m qualified for it and I’m hoping to do it for both events. If I really hone in on my technique and get lucky, I can go to nationals. That would be my dream goal.”

Gagne and the track team’s next meet will be the Louisiana State University Alumni Gold Invitational this weekend.

This upcoming weekend will prove to be UMaine’s toughest in-conference test thus far, as they travel to take on Binghamton University, who are 13-14 overall and 4-2 in conference play.

Head coach Steve Trimper has kept the Black Bears focused by accomplishing small goals every day and not focusing on the win streak.

“We take games one at a time and focus on being prepared for that day of practice,” he said. “The win streak got to here from playing [solid] baseball.”

The Black Bears are undefeated in America East play, but they have played bottom-dwellers University of Maryland-Baltimore County and University of Hartford, who are a combined 1-12 in conference and 16-50 overall.

This certainly doesn’t take anything away from UMaine’s play, as it’s difficult to win 13 games in a row at any level, but this team certainly is far from satisfied.

“We’re playing teams we expect to beat and the tougher and stiffer competition is coming soon,” Trimper said. “This weekend should be a challenge.”

Last season, UMaine lost their first game against Binghamton 8-0 before turning it around and winning the next four games in the series 2-1, 6-5, 7-2 and their last game 4-3 at Binghamton.

This year, Trimper expects the games to be close once again but feels the team is at a disadvantage as they have an even tougher day of travel than originally planned. The team will travel an extra hour to Ithaca, N.Y. due to renovations at Binghamton’s home field.

“It’s going to be a bear of a trip,” Trimper said. “We have to wait until classes are over on Friday before taking a 12-hour bus ride. We will pull in at about 3 in the morning and batting practiced is scheduled for 10. This is one of those grinding trips. You have to to stay mentally prepared after travel.”

The Bearcats will be the best team UMaine has faced, heading into the game with the third-best batting average in America East, hitting .285, as well as the second-best earned run average at 4.53. This is due in large part to allowing only 66 walks this season. To put this in perspective, Stony Brook is second, allowing 80, and UMaine is third at 113.

“They have very good pitching and a very good number one [starter],” Trimper said, referring to senior pitcher Mike Augliera. “They are clean on defense and we always seem to be in one-run games with them. To win, we must execute the little things — the sacrifice bunts, advancing runners and getting on base.”

If UMaine can win the series this weekend, they will be in good position to attain one of their loftiest goals set before the season: hosting the America East tournament. The Black Bears have circled the season finale at Mahaney Diamond against the State University of New York at Stony Brook, who, at 24-10 and 5-2 in America East, are their toughest competition on paper.

The rules have changed from determining the host site before the season to the site being determined each year by the team who wins America East. This weekend would be a huge step for the Black Bears hosting the tournament.

“We have [the State University of New York at] Albany twice and Hartford before the Stony Brook games,” Trimper said. “This weekend is pivotal to remain on top and be in position to host the tournament.”

The four-game series opener against the Bearcats is scheduled to begin Saturday at noon.