America East Baseball News & Notes: Maine Heads to Coral Gables

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They are fresh off winning the America East Baseball Championship for the fifth time in program history, and the first time since 2011. On Monday afternoon, the Maine Black Bears found out where they were heading in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. They will be making the trip to Coral Gables, Florida to play the #1 seed and #9 ranked Miami Hurricanes on Friday night at 7 PM.

The Black Bears, at 32-19, are having one of their best offensive seasons in recent memory and in league history. They have set a new record for home runs in a season by hitting 83, breaking the old mark of 75 set in 1991. As a team, they have a slash line of .293/.400/.493. In their 51 games played, the team has stolen 98 bases which is five off the program record. The lineup is built around three players at the top of the order. Jake Rainess, Quinn McDaniels, and Jeremiah Jenkins. These three make this lineup roll.

Rainess is the leadoff hitter for this team, On Saturday, in the championship game of the America East tournament, he smacked his 16th home run of the year. His slash line of .317/.444/.629 is very impressive for a leadoff man. Not only can Rainess take you out of the ballpark, but he can also steal a base for you. He tied the program record for stolen bases in a year with 38. Jake was also third in the league in both slugging percentage at .629 and in on-base+slugging percentage at 1.073. He was second in the league in runs scored with 73. As a third baseman, he led the league in assists with 146 while making 11 errors. He had 232 total chances at the hot corner.

Quinn McDaniels is getting plenty of attention from MLB scouts this spring. His slash line of .355/.699/.520 from the number two spot set up the middle of the order to do their job of driving runners in. He led the conference in runs scored with 76 and in walks with 60. McDaniels was third in stolen bases with 32 while being caught only six times. McDaniels left the yard 16 times himself this spring. As a second baseman for the Black Bears infield, McDaniels committed nine errors helping turn twenty double plays.

The stud of this group is Jeremiah Jenkins. The first baseman has himself a 20 home runs and 75 RBI season as the third-place hitter in this lineup. The 20 bombs are the most in the league since Kevin Merich hit 33 for Delaware back in 1998. His 75 RBI are the most since Brian August had 82 for the Blue Hens in 1997. Jenkins’ slash line of .378/.771/. 509 speaks for itself. His on-base + slugging percentage was 1.277 which also was the best in the league. At the first base bag, Jenkins had a fielding percentage of .993 with 416 putouts. He was on the back end of 29 double plays with a total of 434 chances. MLB scouts are paying attention to him and will be paying even more when he becomes draft-eligible next spring.

If the Black Bears are going to have any success in Coral Gables, then pitching will be the key. Last weekend in the conference tournament the Maine staff pitched. Gianni Gambardella had himself a solid freshman season. A 6-3 record with one shutout to go along with a 2.91 ERA. Teams hit .241 against him in 55.2 IP. He allowed 51 hits and 20 runs of which 18 were earned. He walked 13 while striking out 42. He made 13 appearances with four of them being starts, including last Saturday’s 8-inning, three-hit shutout performance in the championship game vs Binghamton. He was named Most Outstanding Player for his performance.

Sophomore Caleb Leys was 5-0 with a 4.30 ERA in 12 starts and 18 appearances overall. He allowed 56 hits in 67 innings, 49 walks, and 69 strikeouts. Teams batted .248 against him and he allowed 40 runs, 32 were earned.

Noah Lewis was 7-1 with a 4.41 ERA in 13 starts and 14 appearances. He had one shutout to his credit in 79.2 IP, 59 hits, 73 strikeouts to 40 walks. Teams hit only .200 against him and he allowed 44 runs, 39 earned. He did hit nine batters and threw nine wild pitches. However, the junior was good more often than not.

Colin Fitzgerald was 6-1 with a 4.48 ERA with 14 starts on the year in 14 appearances. He had 74.1 IP, 71 hits, 39 runs, and 37 were earned. He walked 40 and struck out 69. Teams hit .252 off of him. He threw 10 wild pitches and hit six batters. He has given up some long ones this spring, 12 to be exact. The most on the staff.

Their closer is Justin Baeyens. The graduate student had eight saves in 25 appearances. He had a 3-3 record with a 4.81 ERA. Teams hit .281 against him, which is a little high for a closer. he had 19 runs allowed, 18 earned in 33.2 IP, 38 hits, 38 punchouts to 12 walks. He did allow five HRs and threw four wild pitches.

The staff has a 5.77 team ERA heading into their game with the Hurricanes. They have a .971 fielding percentage, 53 errors committed, and 31 double plays turned. The team swung it at a .293 clip but did strike out 410 times while walking 250 times. They hit 87 doubles to go along with the 83 long balls.

To make some noise in this regional, the Black Bears know they will have to repeat their performance in Binghamton. Not only will they have Miami to deal with, but also Texas (2 seed) and Louisiana (3rd Seed) as well.