America East Baseball News & Notes: Two more weekends to go

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There are two weekends left in the America East regular season and two more teams clinched spots in the Baseball Championship to take place in Binghamton. The Binghamton Bearcats and the Maine Black Bears have been added to the lineup. The Bearcats made it by taking a rain-shorten series verse Maryland-Baltimore County, while Maine took two of three from first place, Stony Brook. The schedule for this upcoming weekend looks like this: UAlbany (9-9) at Binghamton (10-6), Maine (9-8) at Hartford (9-9), Maryland-Baltimore County (6-14) at UMass Lowell (7-11).

The series of the weekend will take place in Lowell. That’s because the last spot in the championship will be at stake. The River Hawks hold a three-game lead in the loss column on the Retrievers. A series win by Lowell should wrap up the last spot for them. However, if UMBC wins the series, then it will come down to the final weekend of play. Let’s take a look at how these two teams stack up versus one another.

For Maryland-Baltimore County, their offense is led by Terrence Pinkston. He is second in runs scored with 42, third in on-base percentage at 0.442, ninth in batting average at .327, eighth in slugging with a .531, and third in hits with 53. He is eighth in home runs five, ninth in at-bats with 162, fourth in walks 27, fifth in HBP with seven, and leads America East in stolen bases with 25. Terrence has some help in the lineup in A.J. Wright. He is second in RBI with 41, second in doubles with 18, sixth in HRs with six, second in HBP with nine. He is ninth in strikeouts with 37, seventh in sac flies with four and is fifth in stolen bases with 13. Blaze O’Saben is fifth in at-bats with 167, second in stolen bases with 22, fifth in sac bunts at five, and fourth in sac flies with four.

Pitching has been a problem for Maryland-Baltimore County. Nick Trabbachi is tenth in runs allowed with 39, sixth in walks, eighth in doubles with 12, seventh in sac bunts with three, and tenth in sac flies with 10. Nick is also second in wild pitches with six, third in balks and fourth in hit batters. For UMBC to win this series, pitching will have to be good.

The River Hawks, on offense, are led by SS Oscar Marchena. He is eighth in batting average at .333, fourth in hits with 53, ninth in runs batted in at 30. However, he is sixth in ground into double plays at four. Freshman catcher, Ciaran Devenney, is seventh in slugging at .531, fifth in on-base at 0.427, and ninth in walks with 23. Senior first baseman, Steve Passatempo, is second in walks with 28, tenth in both at-bats with 162, and in home runs at five while being second in strikeouts with 49, and seventh in double plays with four.

Lowell pitching has not been much better than that of their opponent. for most of the season. The River Hawks have been last in ERA as a staff. Nick Rand, who should get the ball for game one of the series, is first in innings with 74, second in batters struck out, and sixth in ERA. Nick is third in opposing batting average at .249, fourth in batters struck out looking with 17. He is ninth in home runs allowed with nine, fifth in wild pitches with five and fifth in hit batters. Freshman Joshua Becker has been a reliable arm out of the bullpen. He is fifth in ERA, eighth in opposing batting average at .259, seventh in strikeouts and in struck out looking (13), He is tenth in wins with three, fourth in losses with three, first in saves at four, eighth in sac bunts at three, fourth in runs scored with 26, and fifth in earned runs with 12. Becker has also allowed two triples, three home runs, and five wild pitches. Most of the bad numbers took place earlier in the season.

The Player of the Week in America East is Alex Baratta. The junior second baseman had a slash line of, .533/.632/.933 in four games for the Bearcats. He scored six runs. drove in three all against the Retrievers. Alex leads the league in Batting Average at .403, second in slugging at .565. It is his first weekly award.

The Pitcher of the Week in America East is Trevor DeLaite. The junior from the Black Bears earned a win and three saves in Maine’s four wins last week. That included a win and a save vs Stony Brook. In four appearances combined, Trevor struck out eight and did not surrender a run or walk. This is his first weekly award.

There are Co-Rookies of the Week in America East. Will Nowak of Hartford tossed seven and a third inning of relief for the Hawks last week. he picked up a win and a save in those outings. Will pitch a three-inning save vs the River Hawks holding them hitless while striking out two. This is Nowak’s third weekly award this season. Ryann Turenne of Maine had a slash line of .417/.462/.667 as part of a 4-1 week for the Black Bears. He drove in four runs and scored a pair. This is the freshman catcher’s first weekly award.

Check back with us next week for more on America East Baseball.